According to latest research carried out in Georgia State University, it has come to light that whole ginger has strong anti-cancer properties. The herb is especially useful against prostate cancer. The study was conducted by Ritu Aneja, associate professor in Biology belonging to the Georgia University. Extracts of ginger can not only stop the growth of cells causing cancer, but they can also be instrumental in causing death of cancer cells. Studies were conducted on animals and it was found that extracts of ginger caused a regression in cancer cell growth of up to 60%. In addition, it was found that the effect on normal cells was zero or in other words, toxicity found was nil.

Experiments on the anti-cancer properties of ginger have been carried out in the past. However, the studies were based in individual components of ginger extracts and not on in a holistic manner. Whole ginger extracts have a much more profound effect on the prostate cancer cells when compared to individual component extracts. The study went on to show that in order to obtain benefits of ginger, it was enough if 3.5 oz of whole ginger extracts was consumed every day. Researcher Ritu Aneja focuses her researches on finding out new and gentler ways of producing drugs that could cause regression in cancer cells. Drugs extracted and concocted from plant extracts have a high influence on cancer cells while not causing harm to the healthy cells. The cancer drugs which are used in cancer treatments today cause harmful repercussions on cells that are healthy as well.

The researcher revealed that extracting drugs from plants is not easy. Manufacturing artificial and chemical drugs is an easier process. The difficulty in extracting drugs from plants is due to the presence of zillions of other compounds and identifying the precise chemical required can be a very tough task. In many cases, the required compounds are present in very low quantities and hence very difficult to extract. The research was first started by Vibhuti Sharma, a student of Ritu Aneja who is now with the Southern Company as an environmental chemist. She started the research in Aneja’s lab as an undergraduate student. She said that there was a huge vacuum when it came to studies regarding whole ginger extracts. In addition to prostate cancer, whole ginger extracts have been tested against breast cancer cells and cervical cancer cells. The results have been very positive.