Dietary ginger as a traditional therapy for blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Background:Ancient medical practitioners used to encourage dietary supplements and herbal medicine for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Ginger (Zingiber officinale), is a nontoxic spice with negligible side effects, and is considered safe by the food and drug administration. In this analysis, we aimed to systematically compare fasting blood sugar (FBS) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) at baseline versus at follow-up in T2DM patients who consumed and who did not consume ginger.Methods:A literature search was carried out through MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Central, and www.ClinicalTrials.gov for English-published trials comparing glucose parameters in T2DM patients who were assigned to ginger consumption versus a control group. All the participants were patients with T2DM who were either assigned to ginger therapy (1600– 4000 mg daily) or to a control group. FBS and HbA1c were assessed in the ginger and control groups, respectively, from baseline to follow-up to observe any significant change. Weight mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated to represent the analysis which was carried out by the RevMan 5.3 software.Results:Eight randomized trials consisting of a total number of 454 participants with T2DM were included in this analysis. At first, FBS was compared in patients with T2DM from baseline prior to ginger consumption until follow-up after ginger consumption. The results showed no significant difference in FBS (WMD: 1.38, 95% CI: [−0.53–3.30]; P = .16). For the T2DM patients who did not consume ginger, no significant difference in FBS was observed (WMD: −0.27, 95% CI: [−5.09–4.54]; P = .91). However, a significantly improved HbA1c from baseline to follow-up was observed in those participants with ginger consumption (WMD: 0.46, 95% CI: [0.09–0.84]; P = .02) whereas in the control group, no significant difference in HbA1c was observed (WMD: −0.23, 95% CI: [−0.60–0.14]; P = .22).Conclusion:This analysis involving patients with T2DM showed no significant difference in FBS with ginger consumption. However, dietary ginger significantly improved HbA1c from baseline to follow-up showing that this natural medicine might have an impact on glucose control over a longer period of time in patients with T2DM.

Zingiber officinaleextract and omega‐3 fatty acids ameliorate endoplasmic reticulum stress in a nonalcoholic fatty liver rat model

“…The therapeutic effect demonstrated by Z. officinale or omega‐3 is coherent with other studies that evaluated both therapies or their individual components against metabolic syndrome disorders such as type2 diabetes, obesity, IR, and NAFLD. These effects have been studied to be through regulation of lipogenesis, β‐oxidation besides their antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory activity (de Castro, Cardoso, Calder, Jordão, & Vannucchi, ; Huang, Deng, Meng, & Ma, ; Lai et al, ; Li et al, ; Molinar‐Toribio et al, ; Singh, Akanksha, Singh, Maurya, Srivastava, ). Here, we demonstrated a novel pathway by which the therapeutic approaches treat NAFLD by modulation of ER stress proposed to be responsible for NAFLD progression through different mechanisms (Ferré & Foufelle, ; Jo et al, ; Lee et al, ).…”

Zingerone (4-(four-hydroxy-3-methylphenyl) butane-two-1) modulates adjuvant-induced rheumatoid arthritis by regulating inflammatory cytokines and antioxidants

“…Zingiber officinale is a monocotyledonous medicinal plant, native to India or Southeast Asia, from where it reached to rest of the world [ 26 ]. Both fresh and dried ginger has found its use as a food additive and dietary spice as well as a phytomedicines [ 27 ]. Several studies have reported the effectiveness of compounds isolated from ginger against inflammatory diseases [ 28 ].…”

Effectiveness of ginger in reducing metabolic levels in people with diabetes: a randomized clinical trial

“…This interest is due to factors such as the search for affinities for the use of natural products; the high price of private medical assistance, together with the high cost of the medications; precarious public assistance; and the attempt to mitigate complications related to chronic diseases, such as T2DM (5)(6)(7)(8)(9) . In this sense, ginger appears as a promising adjuvant for the treatment of T2DM, mainly acting in the regulation of lipid metabolism, in the improvement of anti-inflammatory activities, and in the modulation of insulin release and response, with minimal adverse events and increasingly effective results (10)(11)(12)(13) .…”

“…Given the above, it was established as a hypothesis that the use of ginger is effective in decreasing glycemic and lipid biomarkers in people with T2DM, compared to a placebo. However, studies analyzing the effect of ginger in the treatment of people with T2DM are still scarce and so far no publications have been found on the subject in Brazil, indicating the need for more evidence to legitimize and subsidize the inclusion of this product in the clinical practice of health professionals, mainly in Primary Health Care, as a way to facilitate the control of T2DM ( 12 - 13 ) . This study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of ginger (Zingiber officinale) in reducing blood sugar and lipid levels in people with T2DM.…”