If you're pregnant or planning to become pregnant, you may have heard that ginger can help alleviate the symptoms of morning sickness and early-pregnancy nausea. This is quite true -- in fact, not only can ginger help you feel better, it's quite safe during pregnancy, so you can consume it without worry.
Morning Sickness
While some women simply like the taste of fresh ginger and use it in a variety of foods for its own sake, the most common use of ginger during pregnancy is to help relieve symptoms of queasiness and nausea. In their book "What To Expect When You're Expecting," Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel say that the primary reason that many women experience nausea early in pregnancy is due to rising hormone levels.
Why Ginger Works
In their book "Napoleon's Buttons," chemists Dr. Penny Le Couteur and Dr. Jay Bureson say that the reason ginger helps with nausea is due to its active molecular ingredient, zingerone. The zingerone molecule is closely related to the spicy molecules in red and black pepper, and when you consume ginger, zingerone sends signals to your brain. These signals confuse the neurons, which can't simultaneously process the heat of the ginger and the sensation of nausea.
Forms of Ginger
Murkoff and Mazel suggest that you can use ginger to help relieve your pregnancy-related nausea -- or nausea due to other causes -- in many ways. Add fresh ginger to your cooking, or bake with dried ginger. Some women prefer ginger in the form of a tea brewed from either fresh ginger root or purchased in tea bags from the grocery store.
Ginger Safety
Ginger itself is safe during pregnancy, but if you obtain ginger in a non-pure form, read the ingredients carefully. For instance, ginger tea may contain other herbs that can be harmful during pregnancy, say Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby." If you buy your own fresh ginger and use it, either in cooking or to make a tea, you're generally quite safe.
Using Ginger
To use fresh ginger during pregnancy, simply peel the ginger root and slice the ginger into small spears or discs. You can add the ginger to your cooking -- particularly stir-frys -- in this form, or you can brew a tea from the fresh ginger. For tea, add fresh ginger to hot water and allow to steep to taste, just as you would with a tea bag. Add lemon and honey to fresh ginger tea to augment the flavor.
References
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel; 2008
- "Napoleon's Buttons"; Penny Le Couteur and Jay Bureson; 2004
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
