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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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30.07.2025 |
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Painful worn-out knee? This dose of ginger might help
Ginger supplementation can significantly reduce the pain you experience from a worn-out knee. A small human study published in 2003 in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage suggests you probably don't need supplements for this. Ginger powder from the supermarket works just as well...
Study
During the first 12 weeks of the study, some participants received a placebo and others a ginger supplement. For the following 12 weeks, the participants who initially received a placebo received a ginger supplement, and vice versa. In the final 24 weeks of the trial, all participants received a supplement.
The researchers used Zintona, a supplement that is still available. Participants took four capsules daily, each containing 250 milligrams of ginger root powder.
Results
Ginger also reduced the pain the subjects experienced during exercise. This is illustrated in the figure below. Click on it for a larger version.
Ordinary ginger powder
In 2013, Abhay Prakash Mishra, a chemist at Naresuan University in Thailand, analyzed half a dozen commercially available ginger powders. [Recent Research in Science and Technology. 2013;5(1):54-9.] One of the substances Mishra looked at was gingerol.
As you can see from the table below, the ginger powder in Zintona likely doesn't contain more bioactive compounds than regular ginger powders you buy in the supermarket or Asian grocery store.
Zintona supplements now have a coating that, according to the manufacturer, protects the active ingredients in ginger from being metabolized by stomach acids and enzymes. Ginger powder from a conventional store doesn't offer this protection, of course.
However, it's quite possible that store-bought ginger powder contains twice as much active ingredient as the expensive supplement in the trial we just discussed.
Teaspoon
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