Ginger (Zingiber officinale) · Herb Profile

At a glance

Botanical name: Zingiber officinale
Family: Zingiberaceae
Part used: Rhizome
Taste: Pungent
Temperature: Hot
Moisture: Dry

On moisture, the old sources disagree: Culpeper (1653) reads it as dry; Bhavaprakasha (16th c.) and Rajanighantu (c. 15th c.) read it as moist. The app keeps dry, the modern reading of what the herb does in the body; the old readings are shown here but do not change it.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Generally safe in moderation

While breastfeeding

Excellent safety in breastfeeding; traditional postpartum tonic. Moderate use across cultures in lactating mothers.

For children

Generally safe; commonly used for children's nausea and digestion

Cautions

Caution with anticoagulants at high doses; active gallstones

General contraindications

Culinary safe; therapeutic doses caution — some evidence safe, some concerns

Stewardship

Ginger is globally cultivated; rhizome. Fresh and dried have different energetic signatures in traditional use. Stewardship: the root that travels the spice road reminds us commerce can carry medicine.

In the traditional record

Ginger — referenced in Confucian Analects; ancient Sanskrit texts; the Quran mentions ginger as a spice of Paradise (Surah 76:17)

Which herbs suit your body?

The same herb can calm one person and wire another. Our free assessment reads your pattern across temperature, moisture and tone, then matches herbs to it.

Take the free assessment Open Ginger in the Apothecary

Teaching children at home? Eden's Table builds a full herbalism curriculum around plants like this one.

Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.