Ginger can help with many medical conditions — but not the kind you find in soft drinks

Whenever my husband flies, he orders a ginger ale and says it helps his stomach. He sits back, relaxes and enjoys his sugary drink.

I, however, am offered a ginger shot after my Pilates class. I quickly drink it and try to maintain composure as my throat is burning and my eyes watering.

These are not the same drinks and definitely contain different amounts of ginger. I recently read an article clarifying ginger’s benefits, published last month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. True ginger belongs to the Zingiber family. Well named because when you drink a ginger shot, you get a true zinger to the body.

For this research, the authors reviewed 108 articles on ginger. With this large of a review, the articles were not consistent in methods, quality or reporting. But the authors said they felt confident in their conclusions.

The strongest benefit of ginger was found in preventing or treating nausea for pregnant women. The dose was 1.0-2.5 grams a day for four to 21 days.

A high level of confidence was found for ginger providing pain relief in people with osteoarthritis. This dose was 0.5-1.0 grams a day for three to 12 weeks. There was moderate confidence for ginger helping to control blood sugar levels.

The authors concluded that ginger is safe. Doses of 0.5-3.0 grams a day in capsule form were found to be optimal for most outcomes.

The best information I found on the ginger content of popular ginger ale drinks was at www.sfuaa.org. This is a small farmers’ alliance. They have great tips on growing plants.

It appears most of the popular ginger ale drinks, the kind my husband likes, don’t have enough ginger to have a medicinal effect. Ginger beers, which are alcohol free, usually contain more ginger.

There are a lot of recipes online for homemade ginger shots. Making it yourself is economical and you know what you are getting. Get ready for the zing.

Sheah Rarback MS, RDN is a registered dietitian nutritionist in private practice in Miami.