Common Herb/Vegetable Reduces Muscle Pain

A new study in the Journal of Pain has found that ginger may help with muscle pain after exercise. In this research, two identical studies were conducted to test the effects of raw ginger versus placebo (study 1) and heated ginger versus placebo (study 2). The components per gram of the raw ginger capsule were as follows: 4.1 mg of 6-gingerol, 1.9 mg of 10-gingerol, and 2.2 mg of 6-shogaol. The composition of the heated ginger capsule was 2.8 mg/g 6-gingerol, 1.0 mg/g 8-gingerol, 1.6 mg/g 10-gingerol and 2.6 mg/g 6-shogaol.

Patients were given 2 grams of ginger or placebo for 11 days, during which they underwent specific strength tests. The patients then filled out surveys reporting their muscle soreness 1, 2, and 3 days after the exercises.

The researchers found that 1 day after the exercises, those in the raw ginger group had 25% less muscle soreness compared to the placebo group and those in the heated ginger group had 23% less muscle soreness compared to the placebo group.

The study demonstrates that daily consumption of ginger resulted in moderate-to-large reductions in muscle pain following exercise-induced muscle injury and further demonstrate ginger’s effectiveness as a pain reliever.