Trial reportComplementary therapies in medicine2014
Is ginger effective for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome? A double blind randomized controlled pilot trial.
Trial report in Complementary therapies in medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Plant-Based Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Phytotherapy research : PTR · 2026Pooled it
- Herbal placebo response in clinical trials on irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- The Effect of Polyphenols, Minerals, Fibers, and Fruits on Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of biophenol-rich nutraceuticals in adults with inflammatory gastrointestinal diseases or irritable bowel syndrome: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2022Pooled it
- Potential Benefit With Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association · 2021Pooled it
- Ginger on Human Health: A Comprehensive Systematic Review of 109 Randomized Controlled Trials.Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- Plant-Derived Treatments for IBS: Clinical Outcomes, Mechanistic Insights, and Their Position in International Guidelines.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Medicinal Plants for a Healthy Gut Microbiome: Scientific Insights into Modern Herbal Applications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Natural Remedies for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Comprehensive Review of Herbal-Based Therapies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Natural Products for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Article
- Polypharmacology and Neuroprotective Effects of Gingerol in Alzheimer's Disease.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Very-Low-Absorbable Geraniol for the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A "Real-World" Open-Label Study on 1585 Patients.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Nutraceuticals and Pain Disorders of the Gut-Brain Interaction in Infants and Children: A Narrative Review and Practical Insights.Nutrients · 2024Review
- 6-Shogaol Derived from Ginger Inhibits Intestinal Crypt Stem Cell Differentiation and Contributes to Irritable Bowel Syndrome Risk.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
- The Use of Fibers, Herbal Medicines and Spices in Children with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Herbal Approaches to Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- (Poly)phenols in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Ginger in gastrointestinal disorders: A systematic review of clinical trials.Food science & nutrition · 2019Review
- Herbs and Spices in the Treatment of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: A Review of Clinical Trials.Nutrients · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesGinger is one of the most commonly used herbal medicines for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but no data exists about its effectiveness.
designDouble blind randomized controlled trial.
settingUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
interventionForty-five IBS patients were randomly assigned to three groups: placebo, 1g of ginger, and 2g of ginger daily for 28 days.
main outcome measuresThe IBS severity scale (IBS-SS) was administered, as well as adequate relief of symptoms scale. A responder was defined as having at least 25% reduction in IBS-SS post-treatment.
resultsThere were 57.1% responders to placebo, 46.7% to 1g and 33.3% to 2g of ginger. Adequate relief was reported by 53.3% on placebo and 53.3% in both ginger groups combined. Side effects were mild and reported by 35.7% in the placebo and 16.7% in the ginger groups.
conclusionsThis double blind randomized controlled pilot study suggests ginger is well tolerated but did not perform better than placebo. Larger trials are needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.