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FRIDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Ginger ale and ginger tea are long-time home remedies for nausea or stomach ache. Now, researchers are investigating whether ginger can help prevent similar symptoms in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy -- even after they've tried standard anti-nausea drugs.

"We know anecdotally that the participants in the study say they are overall very happy to be in the study and satisfied with their treatment," Suzanna Zick, a research investigator in family medicine, said in a prepared statement.

"We don't know what that means yet. We're hoping that means the ginger is doing something really good, and we have had a few participants say they felt they could decrease their other medications while they were in the study. Whether that's a placebo effect or from the ginger, we'll have to wait until the study ends," Zick said.

Previous research found that ginger helped control nausea related to motion sickness, post-operative recovery and pregnancy.

There are three main ways that ginger seems to help in controlling nausea, Zick said. It's main constituent is a substance called gingerol, a strong free-radical molecule that acts as an antioxidant. Gingerol decreases oxidative products made in the digestive tract that can cause nausea.

Ginger also causes blood vessels to dilate, which explains its warming effect, and it also blocks serotonin receptors in the stomach that cause nausea.

Fresh ginger root is the most effective remedy, Zick said. She recommended buying fresh ginger and grinding or chopping it to add to foods. She noted that just because a food or drink has ginger in the name doesn't mean it actually contains any ginger.

"People really need to be aware that there are a lot of products, especially ginger ales these days, that put in a synthetic form of ginger or hardly any real ginger. So if you really wanted the medicinal effect, you would have to make sure that the brand had actual ginger in it," Zick advised.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about ginger.