With up to 600,000 Americans developing blood clots each year and 100,000 deaths, according to the Surgeon General, it's important to find ways to help treat and prevent the condition. Many people take blood-thinning drugs to prevent blood clotting, but these are often expensive and have dangerous side effects. Researchers looking for safer, healthier alternatives are turning to plant sources like ginger root and finding some potential benefits against clots.
Nutrients
Ginger is the beige underground stem of the plant Zingiber officinale, used for centuries as a food spice and in traditional medicine to treat indigestion, arthritis and heart conditions. The important active components of ginger root are volatile oils and fragrant phenol compounds including gingerols and shogaols, thought to have antioxidant properties. Ginger also contains beneficial vitamins and minerals like beta-carotene, amino acids, essential fatty acids, potassium, iron and manganese.
Effects on Platelets
Blood clotting is ordinarily an important part of good health, preventing excessive bleeding. Blood cells called platelets and proteins in your body form a clot over an injury until it's healed. Sometimes clots form inside blood vessels and don't resolve, leading to potentially life-threatening clots in veins and arteries. Studies such as one published in "Thrombosis Research" in 2003 have shown that ginger is an effective anti-coagulant. Researchers in Australia found that gingerol was a more effective anti-platelet agent than aspirin.
Effects on Cholesterol
High cholesterol can lead to the development of plaque buildups on the inner walls of your coronary arteries that bring blood to the heart. If plaques rupture and release cholesterol and fat into your bloodstream, it can cause your blood to clot and lead to a heart attack. A study in Kuwait published in 2002 in the journal "Prostaglandins, Leukotrines and Essential Fatty Acids" discovered that 500mg/kg of ginger extracts given daily for four weeks to rats resulted in significant reductions in cholesterol and thromboxane, a substance made by platelets that causes blood clotting and constriction of blood vessels.
Considerations
Don't take more than 4g daily of ginger, which is available as extracts, tinctures, capsules, powders and oils or as fresh ginger root. Side effects of higher doses are rare, but can include heartburn, stomach upset and diarrhea. Due to its potential blood-thinning effects, don't take ginger if you're also using aspirin or anti-coagulant medications unless checking first with your doctor. Avoid using ginger before undergoing surgery for the same reason.
References
- American Society of Hematology: Blood Clots
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Ginger; Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD; November 2008
- "Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids"; The Use of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) as a Potential Anti-inflammatory and Antithrombotic Agent; M. Thompson, et al.; December 2002
- "Thrombosis Research"; Effective Anti-platelet and COX-1 Enzyme Inhibitors from Pungent Constituents Of Ginger; E. Nurtjahja-Tjendraputra, et al.; 2003
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism; 2008
