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02.07.2023

Ginger enhances insulin sensitivity | Is ginger tea a sports supplement?

Glucose disappears considerably faster from the blood into muscles and other organs after drinking a cup of ginger tea. The insulin enhancing effect of ginger may explain why ginger supplementation helps strength athletes build more lean body mass.

Study
Portuguese researchers, affiliated with the Instituto Universitario Egas Moniz, gave 24 healthy test subjects 75 grams of glucose dissolved in 200 milliliters of water. The researchers then looked at how quickly the carbohydrate disappeared from the bloodstream.

Half of the test subjects drank 100 milliliters of ginger tea immediately after the glucose drink [Intervention].

Ginger tea
The Portuguese made their own ginger tea. They used a recipe they found in an Australian article dating back to 2000. [Reprod Toxicol. 2000 Nov-Dec;14(6):507-12.] In this recipe, the starting material was grated ginger. However, the Portuguese used ginger powder, which did not differ substantially from the ginger powder in the spice rack of the local supermarket or toko.

A rule of thumb is that dried herbs lose 90 percent of their weight. So the Portuguese used 200 milligrams per 100 milliliters of water, not 2 grams.

Results
Ginger tea reduced the amount of glucose circulating in the blood during the first two hours after ingestion by 49 percent.

Click on the table for a larger version.

Conclusion
Ginger apparently contains phytochemicals that increase the sensitivity of cells to insulin. We have written about this before.

The researchers summarize that ginger can protect healthy individuals against the negative effects of high sugar. "The present study contributes to the support of the beneficial properties of ginger, suggesting that this herb extract may be effective against hyperglycemic status in nondiabetic subjects," they write.

We ourselves think that the possibilities of ginger may extend even further. Ginger supplementation increases the energy supply to the muscles and therefore make strength training more productive. Through the same mechanism, ginger supplementation, if combined with the administration of quickly absorbable carbohydrates, may also be of interest to endurance athletes.

Source:
Foods. 2023 Mar 1;12(5):1037.

More:
Ginger, a herbal anti-diabetic drug 21.10.2019
The joint effect of strength training and ginger supplementation 27.07.2014
Add ginger to your food to boost calorie burning 25.07.2012

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