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When you were young, ginger ale(姜味汽水)may have been a popular choice for reducing the unpleasant feelings caused by your upset stomach on the road to get to school. For years, ginger has been used to reduce the effects of nausea(作呕). But do you know it's now also being looked at to fight cancer?
Scientists have discovered that ginger can kill cancerous cells in two different ways. On the one hand, ginger causes the cancer cells to "commit suicide" by destroying themselves while leaving the surrounding healthy cells untouched. Ginger can prevent the growth of diseased cells by destroying the environment they grow in. On the other hand, ginger tricks the diseased cells and causes them to fight among themselves. Researchers are now looking into one of the toughest cancers to fight. However, scientists find repeated treatment of disease by drugs can actually lose its effectiveness over time as the cancer builds up resistance(抵抗力)to the same treatment. This raises researchers' confidence that ginger would help stop resistance from the cancer.
In a study, the cancer clearly stopped growing in the body of the mice that had been given ginger. The bad news is that such encouraging research has only been conducted on mice. The good news, however, is that it seems humans might be able to get the same benefit just by eating products with ginger and ginger root in them.
Cancer prevention and fighting abilities aren't the only potential benefits you may get from adding a bit more ginger to your diet.
Drinking ginger ale when your stomach was upset as a child wasn't just a placebo(安慰剂).Numerous studies and research, including the Mayo Clinic's strict grading system, agree that ginger has some sort of anti-nausea characteristics.
Some believe that ginger works well against nausea after operations, while others use it to reduce motion sickness such as seasickness and car sickness. The Mayo Clinic, however, advises the use of ginger only to reduce nausea during pregnancy. While more research needs to be done, early studies are very promising, especially in that small amounts of ginger don't seem to do any harm to the mother or baby.
Other health benefits from ginger exist as well. Since ginger is often considered to be useful in warming bodies, it can improve the condition of people's joints including knees and ankle joints. Some suggest that ginger can help cure a cough associated with the common cold. Another benefit of ginger is that it seems to have no real side effects, which is one of the main reasons it appears to be safe during pregnancy.
But for safety, you should always consult a doctor for instructions on daily use before starting, even with something like ginger that seems to have little to no side effects.