| |  | | Ginger for Arthritis
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Dolores Droumbakis
Posted on: June 16, 1998
A product called Zinaxin is in the news. According to a medical source, it is a ginger root, specially processed for treatment of degenerative arthritis in Switzerland. Any news or comments, please?
Ginger has been used in Asia for Rheumatoid and Osteo Arthritis for many years. Osteoarthritis is erosion of the joint cartilage often caused by an imbalance of minerals in the diet or defective absorption of minerals, leading to an overgrowth of bone cells. Ginger is effective in aiding intestinal absorption. In Rheumatoid arthritis, Ginger is an effective anti-inflammatory as well as a digestive aid.
Fresh Ginger can be used effectively as a tea, a teaspoon of the grated root simmered (covered) in a cup of water for 15 minutes, as a condiment, grating the fresh root on vegetables, or in cooking. It is a warming herb, increasing the blood circulation, making it effective in many diseases by helping the blood and its nutrients reach the affected tissues. Ginger should be taken with or after food.
There is a ginger product from Europe, recently marketed in North America, which claims to use an improved method of extracting the active ingredients from ginger to make products using this extract more effective than other ginger products. In particular, the product Zinaxin that you refer to contains several constituents as well as ginger. At Richters, we do not generally know enough about these products to be able to comment on them. Herbalists generally recommend the whole, natural product because it is easier for the human system to assimilate. The history of herbal medication indicates that there are rarely side effects when the whole herb is taken, where as the extracted constituents alone in drugs often result in unwanted side effects.
| | |
|
