Can Ginger Cure Anxiety?

In a recent study, researchers show that a substance in yellow ginger promises to help with mental illness. Praxisvita has the facts for you.

Professor Glenne Schafe from Hunter College in New York examined the influence of curcumin – a main component of the so-called yellow ginger (turmeric) – on trauma-induced anxiety in a recent research paper.

One can learn fear

The doctor focused in particular on well-known forms of “traumatic memory formation”, such as post-traumatic stress syndrome or what is known as conditioned fear. Both anxiety disorders are characterized by the fact that they were learned by those affected through a specific experience solidified in their memories.

For the study, curcumin was administered to rats that had been conditioned to have a so-called “memory-fixed fear memory”. The yellow powder was added to the normal feed in a ratio of 1.5 to 100.

Rats unlearn their fear

According to Professor Schafe, the results show that the formation and reactivation of fear memories were reduced in the rats that were given the yellow ginger substance. This means that the rats had simply forgotten how to be afraid because of a traumatic experience.

Professor Schafe also found that due to the influence of curcumin, certain genes (e.g. Arg3.1 and Egr-1) responsible for fear evaluation and recognition were less frequently present than in the comparison group without a dose of ginger.

Clinical studies should now provide certainty as to the extent to which these findings can be transferred to humans.