Cold pressed protein bar - Ginger Ale

Ginger's one of the few herbs where the evidence lines up neatly with what people already use it for, so here's the triage our naturopaths run.

A good fit if

• You're looking for something for nausea rather than for a vague digestive complaint
• You want something that won't make you drowsy the way travel sickness tablets can
• You're pregnant and have talked it through with your doctor or midwife
• You'd rather start with a dried or powdered form than a concentrated extract

Check with us first if

• You're on warfarin or another anticoagulant, particularly with a concentrated extract.
• You've got surgery or a dental procedure booked.
• You're having chemotherapy, because this belongs in the conversation with your oncologist.
• You've got gallstones, since ginger stimulates bile flow.
• You're already taking several herbs that affect platelets.

• Fresh rhizome. Best known for: Cooking, and the basis of every home remedy. Absorption: Highest gingerol content; no cached absorption trial. Typical use: A food, so no permitted indications attach to it.
• Ginger dry / ginger powder (items 2353, 2356). Best known for: The plainest regulatory position of any ginger form. Absorption: Drying converts gingerols into shogaols. Typical use: Permitted listed, no requirements and no warning statements.
• Standardised extract below 25:1. Best known for: Most retail capsules on the shelf. Absorption: No cached absorption evidence. Typical use: Carries no mandatory anticoagulant warning.
• Concentrated extract, 25:1 or stronger. Best known for: Higher-potency capsules. Absorption: No cached absorption evidence. Typical use: The only ginger that legally triggers the bleeding-risk warning.
• Ginger oil (item 2354). Best known for: Essential oil, permitted listed with no requirements. Absorption: No cached clinical trial of oral ginger oil exists. Typical use: No evidence base to draw on here.

Reference values. There's no Nutrient Reference Value for ginger, because it's a herb rather than a nutrient.

Typical supplemental range. Australian labels sit between 500 mg and 3 g a day of dried ginger, usually split across doses. For nausea in pregnancy the trials used 500 to 1,500 mg daily in divided doses, and one review's subgroups favoured staying under 1,500 mg. General anti-inflammatory and metabolic trials used 1 to 3 g a day.

Upper level. No dose cap is set in Schedule 1 for any ginger form. The only numeric threshold in the Determination is the one that triggers the anticoagulant warning: an extract ratio of 25:1 or more, providing 2 g or more equivalent dry weight per dosage unit.

Worth knowing. Extract ratios matter more with ginger than with most herbs, so compare the equivalent dry weight rather than the capsule size. Your needs depend on your age, diet and health circumstances. Talk to one of our naturopaths.

Food first, where the diet allows it.

• Fresh ginger rhizome: the culinary form; gingerol content is highest before drying
• Dried or powdered ginger: drying converts gingerols into shogaols
• Ginger tea: A traditional preparation; strength varies entirely with how it's made

This list is the part of the page we will not shorten. If any of it applies to you, talk to one of our naturopaths or your doctor before starting.

• Anticoagulant medicines. Mandatory Australian warning on concentrated extracts (25:1 or more, 2 g or more equivalent dry weight per dosage unit).
• Warfarin specifically. Evidence conflicts; ginger is named among herbs raising bleeding risk, but an RCT-only review found no significant effect on anticoagulation.
• Platelet function. Ginger is listed among herbal medicines found to reduce platelet aggregation.
• Surgery or dental procedures. Stop in advance and tell your surgeon.
• Pregnancy. Pooled data found no significant increase in spontaneous abortion risk, but the confidence interval is wide; use under medical advice.
• Gallstones and biliary disease. Ginger stimulates bile flow.
• Severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Hyperemesis gravidarum needs medical care, not a supplement.
• If you take prescription medicines, check with your doctor, pharmacist or our naturopaths before starting.