Ginger is a quite popular home remedy for migraine treatment. You know these advices: 1/2-1 teaspoon of ground raw ginger in combination with cold or hot cup of water promise to safe you from headache and nausea. But does it really work? What does science say about ginger as a natural treatment of migraine?

There are only 3 randomized clinical trials on this topic so far (feb 2022), that tested an effect of ginger versus placebo on migraine treatment. One of them was sponsored by industry in the US; other two, the industry-independent ones, were from Brazil. All 3 studies were quite small. Two of them involved 60 people with migraine in each study to investigate the ability of ginger to treat pain during a migraine attack, using different assessment methods. The results showed that ginger in combination with other components (ginger combined with feverfew in one study; 400 mg of ginger extract combined with 100 mg of ketoprofen in another study) could reduce mild (!) headache and even eliminate it after 2 hours of intake, but didn’t have any influence on migraine prevention.

The third randomized clinical trial investigated whether taking dry ginger extract (200mg 3 times daily with 5% active gingerols) during the period of 3 months could prevent migraine attacks in 107 participants. The study showed no significant difference in monthly frequency of migraine after 3 months. Days of pain, days of severe pain, days requiring the use of analgesics, number of migraine attacks, and maximum duration of migraine attacks also did not differ significantly between ginger and placebo groups.

As you can see, there is no convinced scientific evidence that ginger alone might help with migraines attacks or even prevent them. However, if you have a migraine attack and don’t have any analgesics, then raw ginger or ginger extract supplements might help a bit. Just try! It will not hurt, and even might help due to its natural analgesic and potential effects on your nerve activity.

Curious? HERE is the source