In spite of the routine use of anti-nausea medications, up to 70% of patients undergoing chemotherapy continue to experience nausea. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study presented in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (2009 ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings; Vol. 27, No. 15S, May 20 Supplement: Abstract 9511) examined the effect of ginger supplementation on chemotherapy-associated nausea.
The study included 644 cancer patients who had previously experienced nausea with chemotherapy and were scheduled to receive at least three additional chemotherapy cycles. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or ginger at doses of 0.5 grams, 1.0 gram, or 1.5 grams per day.
Participants rated the severity of their nausea on a seven-point scale during the first four days of each chemotherapy cycle. Nausea scores were significantly lower in all groups receiving ginger compared with the placebo group, with the greatest benefit observed in the 0.5-gram and 1.0-gram groups.
The authors concluded that ginger supplementation at daily doses of 0.5 to 1.0 grams significantly reduced nausea during the first day of chemotherapy.
