Alcohol: Ginger cure for liver damage

January 27, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Jan 26: Kitchen ginger is capable of reversing the damage caused to the liver by consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Researchers at the department of zoology in Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, have found that regular intake of common ginger will be of immense help in treating hepatotoxicity or liver poisoning. Dietary or kitchen ginger should be consumed in small quantities for about a month for the results to show up.
Ginger has thus far been considered as one of the best anti-septic food items. The SV University study has shown that ginger can be used as anti-toxic substance, particularly to treat damage to liver induced by ethanol or ethyl alcohol. People, who consume alcohol, report damage to the liver quite often. The problem is more compounded in alcoholics or excessive drinkers.
In their joint study, K Mallikarjuna, P Sahitya Chetana, KS Reddy and W Rajendra, pointed out that ginger exhibited considerable influence on hepatic (liver) antioxidant enzyme system. The study was carried out in rats which were treated with ethanol and it stands good for human beings too.
"Consumption of ethanol significantly decreases the levels of certain enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione) while it increases the levels of malondialdehyde in the liver tissue. On intake of common ginger, the process is reversed," they said.
As part of the study, the rats were fed with one per cent dietary ginger for about four weeks. The ginger consumption improved antioxidant status, suggesting that dietary ginger may have protective role against liver damage caused by consumption of alcohol.
The study gains significance since liver is an important organ whose damage cripples storage of nutrients required for the healthy maintenance of the body and affects the liver's function of breaking down harmful and poisonous substances.
Besides alcohol, as many as 900 drugs have shown hepatotoxicity properties affecting the normal function of the liver. Alcohol-induced liver damage accounts for almost five per cent of all hospital cases in the country and daily intake of ginger is expected to bring down this number.