Ginger vs Probiotics for digestion
Short answer: For digestion, more users report improvement with Ginger — 100% of 13 reports, versus 84% of 86 for Probiotics.
Ginger has 184 meta-analyses and 255 randomized trials on PubMed; Probiotics has 2,293 and 2,235.
Based on 157 reports about Ginger and 479 about Probiotics. Not medical advice.
| Ginger Supplement | Probiotics Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 72%helped57 reports · medium confidence | 63%helped144 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 184 / 255 | 2,293 / 2,235 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Digestion % reporting improvement | 100% (13) | 84% (86) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 100% (4) | 100% (54) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | — | 90% (29) |
| Pain & inflammation % reporting improvement | 95% (19) | — |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 100% (5) | 70% (10) |
| Common side effects | stomach issues, dizziness, feverish feeling, hypoglycemia | stomach issues, brain fog, diarrhea, withdrawal |
| Typical dose reported | 1/2 teaspoon dried | 2 capsules / daily |
While most food, herbs and supplements can be safely taken in moderation, healthcare professionals should be aware of the increased risk of bleeding when taking several food and herbs. These include Chinese wolfberry, chamomile tea, cannabis, cranberry, chitosan, green tea, Ginkgo biloba, ginger, spinach, St. John's Wort, sushi and smoking tobacco. Patients should be counselled to continue to seek advice from their healthcare professionals when starting any new herbs, food or supplement.
Br J Clin Pharmacol, 2021 ↗“Ginger changed my life when it comes to hay fever. My wife as well. We normally stick some in some water (1/2 teaspoon dried)”
Some combinations of probiotics or strains may be beneficial in IBS. However, certainty in the evidence for efficacy by GRADE criteria was low to very low across almost all of our analyses.
Gastroenterology, 2023 ↗“What finally made a difference was taking probiotics...I felt better fairly quickly.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate