The Effect of Ginger Biscuit on Nausea and Vomiting in Early Pregnancy

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) are often alleviated by eating dried biscuits or foods. Natural products such as ginger have been suggested as herbal remedies for its treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of ginger in biscuit form for the treatment. Sixty-five women with NVP at or before 17 weeks of gestation, who attended the antenatal clinic of Yahyanejad hospital in Babol town, Northern Iran, during 2005-2006 were included in the study. The subjects were randomized in a double- blind design and divided into two groups to take biscuits. 0.5g of ginger as fine powder was incorporated in each biscuit. Subjects received 5 ginger biscuits per day or an identical placebo biscuit for 4 days. They graded their severity of nausea using visual analog scales (VAS) and recorded the number of vomiting episodes in the previous 24 hours and again during 4 consecutive days. Five-item Likert scales were used to assess the severity of their symptoms. The average VAS scores of day 1 to 4 of post-therapy minus baseline nausea was decreased significantly in ginger (2.6±1.77) compared with the placebo group (1.4±1.62) (P=0.01). The number of vomiting episodes was also decreased in ginger (0.96±0.21) and placebo (0.62±0.19), the difference being insignificant. A significant difference was seen in inter-group variations per day in both groups. Likert scale showed an improvement in symptoms in both groups (P=0.43). Therefore, ginger in biscuit form is effective for relieving the severity of nausea and, to some extent, of vomiting in pregnancy.