A component of cooked ginger root protects human white blood cells in vitro against radiation-induced genetic damage, and lemon balm tea appears to protect radiology staff against radiation-induced oxidative stress.
Reducing Radiation Damage with Ginger & Lemon Balm
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
The German Medical Association finally just apologized for the profession’s role in the Nazi atrocities—65 years after 20 physicians stood trial in Nuremberg. “During the trial, [the Nazi doctors]…argued that their experiments were not unlike previous studies by researchers in the United States,” like Dr. Strong’s injection of prisoners with the plague. Nazi doctors were hung; Dr. Strong went on to chair a department at Harvard. And, we were just getting started. The few examples the Nazis cited were nothing, compared to what the American medical establishment started doing after Nuremberg. After all, prisoners are “much cheaper than chimpanzees.”
Much attention has focused on our cold war radiation experiments, which remained classified for decades. Declassification, the American Energy Commission warned, “would have a very poor effect on the public,” because they describe “experiments performed on human subjects, including the actual injection of plutonium into the body.” Subjects, like Mr. Cade, a 53-year-old “colored male” who got in a car accident, and ended up in the hospital. Great! Let’s inject him with plutonium.
Who else is powerless, besides patients? How about kids—at the Fernald School for the mentally retarded in Waltham, Massachusetts—who were fed radioactive isotopes in their breakfast cereal? Trix are for kids. Despite the Pentagon’s insistence that these were the “only feasible means” of developing ways to protect people from radiation, researchers have since come up with a few ways that don’t violate the Nuremberg code—which states the only time doctors are allowed to do experiments that may kill or disable people is if they themselves are willing to sign up to be experimental subjects, as well.
One way is to study cells in a petri dish. The “[p]rotective effect of Zingerone…against radiation induced genetic damage” and cell death in human white blood cells. What is zingerone? It’s a phytonutrient found in cooked ginger root. You blast cells with some gamma rays, and you get less DNA damage, and fewer free radicals, when you add ginger phytonutrients. They even compared it to the leading drug injected into people for radiation sickness, and found the ginger compound to be 150 times more powerful, and without the serious side effects of the drug itself.
They conclude that it’s an inexpensive natural product that may protect against radiation-induced damage. In fact, lots of different plant products have been found to be protective in vitro against radiation damage by a whole variety of mechanisms. After all, “[p]lants have been utilized since time immemorial for curing diseases;” so, they started screening plants and also found radiation-protective benefits from other plants one can find at grocery stores: garlic, turmeric, goji berries, mint leaves—but, this is all just on cells in a test tube. None had actually been tested in actual people—until now.
How are you going to find people exposed to radiation you can test stuff on? Well, aside from pilots, another group that suffers inordinate radiation exposure is the hospital workers that run the X-ray machines, who have been found to suffer chromosomal damage as a result—compared to other hospital staff—and higher levels of oxidative stress within their body. Although X-rays can damage DNA directly, much of the damage is caused by the free radicals generated by the radiation.
So, they asked radiation staff to drink two cups a day of lemon balm tea for a month; an herbal tea known to have high levels of antioxidants, as I showed in one of my favorite videos, “Antioxidants in a Pinch.” So, what happened? The level of antioxidant enzymes in their bloodstream went up, and the level of free radical damage went down—leading to the conclusion that “oral administration of lemon balm tea may be helpful for the protection of the radiology staff against radiation-induced oxidative stress and improve[d] antioxidant defense system, especially enzymatic defense, due to its antioxidant properties.”
And, if that’s the reason, then practically any plant should fit the bill. So, know that as you’re sucking on some crystallized ginger to prevent travel sickness on some airplane, little did you know that you may be protecting yourself from the cosmic radiation at that altitude as well.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- A. A. Malekirad, A. Ranjbar, K. Rahzani, A. A. Pilehvarian, A. Rezaie, M. J. Zamani, M. Abdollahi. Oxidative stress in radiology staff. Environ. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 2005 20(1):215 - 218
- A. Zeraatpishe, S. Oryan, M. H. Bagheri, A. A. Pilevarian, A. A. Malekirad, M. Baeeri, M. Abdollahi. Effects of Melissa officinalis L. On oxidative status and DNA damage in subjects exposed to long-term low-dose ionizing radiation. Toxicol Ind Health. 2011 27(3):205 - 212
- M. S. Baliga, R. Haniadka, M. M. Pereira, K. R. Thilakchand, S. Rao, R. Arora. Radioprotective effects of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger): Past, present and future. Food Funct 2012 3(7):714 - 723
- B. N. Rao, P. R. Archana, B. K. Aithal, B. S. S. Rao. Protective effect of zingerone, a dietary compound against radiation induced genetic damage and apoptosis in human lymphocytes. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2011 657(1 - 3):59 - 66
- R. Arora, D. Gupta, R. Chawla, R. Sagar, A. Sharma, R. Kumar, J. Prasad, S. Singh, N. Samanta, R. K. Sharma. Radioprotection by plant products: Present status and future prospects. Phytother Res. 2005 19(1):1 - 22
- H.-C. Lien, W. M. Sun, Y.-H. Chen, H. Kim, W. Hasler, C. Owyang. Effects of ginger on motion sickness and gastric slow-wave dysrhythmias induced by circular vection. Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 2003 284(3):G481 - G489
- E. Chernin. Richard Pearson Strong and the iatrogenic plague disaster in Bilibid Prison, Manila, 1906. Rev. Infect. Dis. 1989 11(6):996 - 1004
- S. C. White, S. M. Mallya. Update on the biological effects of ionizing radiation, relative dose factors and radiation hygiene. Aust Dent J. 2012 57 (Suppl 1):2 - 8
- R. S. Cardoso, S. Takahashi-Hyodo, P. Peitl Jr, T. Ghilardi-Neto, E. T. Sakamoto-Hojo. Evaluation of chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei, and sister chromatid exchanges in hospital workers chronically exposed to ionizing radiation. Teratog., Carcinog. Mutagen. 2001 21(6):431 - 439
- E. H. Livingston. German medical group: Apology for Nazi physicians' actions, warning for future. JAMA 2012 308(7):657 - 658
- A. M. Hornblum. They were cheap and available: Prisoners as research subjects in twentieth century America. BMJ 1997 315(7120):1437 - 1441
- S. E. Lederer. Children as Guinea Pigs: Historical Perspectives. Account Res. 2003 10(116):1-18
- R. R. Faden, S. E. Lederer, J. D. Moreno. US medical researchers, the Nuremberg Doctors Trial, and the Nuremberg Code. A review of findings of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. JAMA 1996 276(20):1667 - 1671
- M. McCarthy. Cold war human radiation experiments in the USA. Lancet 1994 344(8935):1498
- Department of Defense USA. Report on Search for Human Radiation Experiment Records. Department of Defense USA 1944-1994 1997 1:1-101
- E. Shuster. Fifty years later: the significance of the Nuremberg Code. N Engl J Med. 1997 337(20):1436-1440.
- D. J. Rothman. Radiation. JAMA. 1996 276(5):421-423.
- F. J. Ingelfinger. The unethical in medical ethics. Ann Intern Med. 1975 83(2):264-269.
Images thanks to Nataraja via Wikimedia
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
The German Medical Association finally just apologized for the profession’s role in the Nazi atrocities—65 years after 20 physicians stood trial in Nuremberg. “During the trial, [the Nazi doctors]…argued that their experiments were not unlike previous studies by researchers in the United States,” like Dr. Strong’s injection of prisoners with the plague. Nazi doctors were hung; Dr. Strong went on to chair a department at Harvard. And, we were just getting started. The few examples the Nazis cited were nothing, compared to what the American medical establishment started doing after Nuremberg. After all, prisoners are “much cheaper than chimpanzees.”
Much attention has focused on our cold war radiation experiments, which remained classified for decades. Declassification, the American Energy Commission warned, “would have a very poor effect on the public,” because they describe “experiments performed on human subjects, including the actual injection of plutonium into the body.” Subjects, like Mr. Cade, a 53-year-old “colored male” who got in a car accident, and ended up in the hospital. Great! Let’s inject him with plutonium.
Who else is powerless, besides patients? How about kids—at the Fernald School for the mentally retarded in Waltham, Massachusetts—who were fed radioactive isotopes in their breakfast cereal? Trix are for kids. Despite the Pentagon’s insistence that these were the “only feasible means” of developing ways to protect people from radiation, researchers have since come up with a few ways that don’t violate the Nuremberg code—which states the only time doctors are allowed to do experiments that may kill or disable people is if they themselves are willing to sign up to be experimental subjects, as well.
One way is to study cells in a petri dish. The “[p]rotective effect of Zingerone…against radiation induced genetic damage” and cell death in human white blood cells. What is zingerone? It’s a phytonutrient found in cooked ginger root. You blast cells with some gamma rays, and you get less DNA damage, and fewer free radicals, when you add ginger phytonutrients. They even compared it to the leading drug injected into people for radiation sickness, and found the ginger compound to be 150 times more powerful, and without the serious side effects of the drug itself.
They conclude that it’s an inexpensive natural product that may protect against radiation-induced damage. In fact, lots of different plant products have been found to be protective in vitro against radiation damage by a whole variety of mechanisms. After all, “[p]lants have been utilized since time immemorial for curing diseases;” so, they started screening plants and also found radiation-protective benefits from other plants one can find at grocery stores: garlic, turmeric, goji berries, mint leaves—but, this is all just on cells in a test tube. None had actually been tested in actual people—until now.
How are you going to find people exposed to radiation you can test stuff on? Well, aside from pilots, another group that suffers inordinate radiation exposure is the hospital workers that run the X-ray machines, who have been found to suffer chromosomal damage as a result—compared to other hospital staff—and higher levels of oxidative stress within their body. Although X-rays can damage DNA directly, much of the damage is caused by the free radicals generated by the radiation.
So, they asked radiation staff to drink two cups a day of lemon balm tea for a month; an herbal tea known to have high levels of antioxidants, as I showed in one of my favorite videos, “Antioxidants in a Pinch.” So, what happened? The level of antioxidant enzymes in their bloodstream went up, and the level of free radical damage went down—leading to the conclusion that “oral administration of lemon balm tea may be helpful for the protection of the radiology staff against radiation-induced oxidative stress and improve[d] antioxidant defense system, especially enzymatic defense, due to its antioxidant properties.”
And, if that’s the reason, then practically any plant should fit the bill. So, know that as you’re sucking on some crystallized ginger to prevent travel sickness on some airplane, little did you know that you may be protecting yourself from the cosmic radiation at that altitude as well.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- A. A. Malekirad, A. Ranjbar, K. Rahzani, A. A. Pilehvarian, A. Rezaie, M. J. Zamani, M. Abdollahi. Oxidative stress in radiology staff. Environ. Toxicol. Pharmacol. 2005 20(1):215 - 218
- A. Zeraatpishe, S. Oryan, M. H. Bagheri, A. A. Pilevarian, A. A. Malekirad, M. Baeeri, M. Abdollahi. Effects of Melissa officinalis L. On oxidative status and DNA damage in subjects exposed to long-term low-dose ionizing radiation. Toxicol Ind Health. 2011 27(3):205 - 212
- M. S. Baliga, R. Haniadka, M. M. Pereira, K. R. Thilakchand, S. Rao, R. Arora. Radioprotective effects of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger): Past, present and future. Food Funct 2012 3(7):714 - 723
- B. N. Rao, P. R. Archana, B. K. Aithal, B. S. S. Rao. Protective effect of zingerone, a dietary compound against radiation induced genetic damage and apoptosis in human lymphocytes. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2011 657(1 - 3):59 - 66
- R. Arora, D. Gupta, R. Chawla, R. Sagar, A. Sharma, R. Kumar, J. Prasad, S. Singh, N. Samanta, R. K. Sharma. Radioprotection by plant products: Present status and future prospects. Phytother Res. 2005 19(1):1 - 22
- H.-C. Lien, W. M. Sun, Y.-H. Chen, H. Kim, W. Hasler, C. Owyang. Effects of ginger on motion sickness and gastric slow-wave dysrhythmias induced by circular vection. Am. J. Physiol. Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 2003 284(3):G481 - G489
- E. Chernin. Richard Pearson Strong and the iatrogenic plague disaster in Bilibid Prison, Manila, 1906. Rev. Infect. Dis. 1989 11(6):996 - 1004
- S. C. White, S. M. Mallya. Update on the biological effects of ionizing radiation, relative dose factors and radiation hygiene. Aust Dent J. 2012 57 (Suppl 1):2 - 8
- R. S. Cardoso, S. Takahashi-Hyodo, P. Peitl Jr, T. Ghilardi-Neto, E. T. Sakamoto-Hojo. Evaluation of chromosomal aberrations, micronuclei, and sister chromatid exchanges in hospital workers chronically exposed to ionizing radiation. Teratog., Carcinog. Mutagen. 2001 21(6):431 - 439
- E. H. Livingston. German medical group: Apology for Nazi physicians' actions, warning for future. JAMA 2012 308(7):657 - 658
- A. M. Hornblum. They were cheap and available: Prisoners as research subjects in twentieth century America. BMJ 1997 315(7120):1437 - 1441
- S. E. Lederer. Children as Guinea Pigs: Historical Perspectives. Account Res. 2003 10(116):1-18
- R. R. Faden, S. E. Lederer, J. D. Moreno. US medical researchers, the Nuremberg Doctors Trial, and the Nuremberg Code. A review of findings of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. JAMA 1996 276(20):1667 - 1671
- M. McCarthy. Cold war human radiation experiments in the USA. Lancet 1994 344(8935):1498
- Department of Defense USA. Report on Search for Human Radiation Experiment Records. Department of Defense USA 1944-1994 1997 1:1-101
- E. Shuster. Fifty years later: the significance of the Nuremberg Code. N Engl J Med. 1997 337(20):1436-1440.
- D. J. Rothman. Radiation. JAMA. 1996 276(5):421-423.
- F. J. Ingelfinger. The unethical in medical ethics. Ann Intern Med. 1975 83(2):264-269.
Images thanks to Nataraja via Wikimedia
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Reducing Radiation Damage with Ginger & Lemon Balm
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Content URLDoctor's Note
This is the final installment of my five-part video series on preventing and treating radiation damage. I started with Fukushima & Radioactivity in Seafood, on avoiding radiation exposure in one’s diet, and then moved to diagnostic medical and dental radiation in Cancer Risk from CT Scan Radiation, and Do Dental X-Rays Cause Brain Tumors? In my last video, Mediating Radiation Exposure from Air Travel, I reviewed population studies of airline pilots and Chernobyl victims, which studied the dietary components that may decrease radiation-induced DNA damage and cancer risk.
For those interested in the Nuremberg narrative, I touch on other cases of medical mistreatment in:
- Plant-Based Diets for Breast Pain
- Gut Feelings: Probiotics & Mental Health
- Lavender for Migraine Headaches
- Plant-Based Bioidentical Hormones
- Get the Lead Out
The prior lemon balm video I reference is one of my favorites, Antioxidants in a Pinch.
What else can ginger do? See:
- Plants vs. Pesticides
- Treating Gorlin Syndrome With Green Tea
- Dangerous Advice from Health Food Store Employees
- Amyloid & Apple Juice
I’ve since added ginger to my pink juice (see Pink Juice with Green Foam) and hibiscus punch (see Herbal Tea Update: Hibiscus) recipes.
For additional context, check out my associated blog posts: Dr. Greger’s Natural Nausea Remedy Recipe; Are Dental X-Rays Safe?; Fukushima Radiation & Seafood; How Risky Are CT scans?; and Ginger & Lemon Balm for Radiation Exposure.
If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here. Read our important information about translations here.