EP.234/ The Benefits of Ginger Tea for Endo Belly and Endo Pain
January can often be the hardest time for those of us with endometriosis. The joys and delights of December for many menstruators can cause hormonal issues come January, and for those of us with endometriosis, it can be even more problematic.
Lack of sleep from busy days and nights can lead to heightened fatigue, pain signals and inflammation, not to mention hormonal disruption.
Extra alcohol, sugar and inflammatory foods can burden the liver, leading to a build-up of oestrogen in the system, creating oestrogen dominance symptoms such as heavy periods, painful periods and PMS.
Added sugar can create unstable blood sugar, leading to fatigue, mood swings and hormonal imbalances like low progesterone and oestrogen dominance - think low moods before your period, migraines, endo belly level bloating and a worsening of endo symptoms. Added sugar also increases inflammation, leading to more pain.
Rich foods we may not normally eat, inflammatory foods, stress, lack of sleep and alcohol can all aggravate any existing IBS issues, from the endo belly to constipation and diarrhoea.
But rather than regretting any Christmas and New Year festivities, I would like to encourage us to be thankful we had them and instead, move onto what we can do to get our hormones back in balance and our endo back under control.
Instead of diving in headfirst with a hard-core challenge, I'd prefer to offer you some solutions that are gentle on the body, mind and spirit - because honestly, I think it's unsustainable for us to have to jump into a completely new health routine as soon as the clock strikes 12 on the 1st.
Especially if we're feeling unwell with flared endo symptoms, in the dead of winter, when the human body still wants to take it slow and gentle.
So, two weeks ago I launched my Ease Endo Tea Challenge. I did it last year, and almost 300 people joined and experienced symptom improvement with the teas I shared with the group. This year I’m bringing it back, and initially began running it as I usually do, via email, but as I was putting the emails together, I was just thinking how useful the info was and how many more people would benefit if I made it a challenge across all of my platforms, so I brought it to IG and now I’m bringing it to the podcast! You can follow along just by listening to the show, but if you’d like to get a copy of all the info, the resources and research I’m sharing, I do encourage you to sign up to the email version because you’ll get all this info sent to your inbox directly and you can save it in a folder and just pull it out whenever you’d like. You can also hop over to Instagram and join in with the community there, comment with your questions or let us know how you’re getting on and share pics of you drinking your tea!
So, for the next few weeks, I’ll be running this free challenge here on the podcast.
In this 4-week challenge you will use four different types of simple teas to ease your endo symptoms. Each week on the podcast, you'll learn about a new herb or spice and the benefits for endometriosis, and exactly the symptoms they'll reduce and why. We'll look at some of the root causes of your symptoms and how these wonder herbs and spices can help you to tackle them.
Now, clearly just drinking tea is not the entire solution to managing endo. But this challenge is designed to ease you into the new year and into managing your endo symptoms, with some quick hacks that will get you back on track, so you can build your energy and health and move into the rest of the year with the motivation and wellbeing to manage endo.
In this challenge, we'll be reducing –
Pelvic pain and inflammation
Bloating, abdominal pain and digestive discomfort
Hormonal symptoms like heavy periods, PMS and low moods
Fatigue and brain fog
The Ease Endo Tea Challenge is perfect for anyone who is new to managing endo holistically and naturally, or anyone who wants some help recovering from any Christmas-induced flares, or anyone who simply just wants to begin the new year with some extra tips and tricks for managing endo.
I highly encourage you to add extra self-care rituals to this challenge. Maybe you drink your tea wrapped in a cosy blanket, or perhaps your tea will become part of your morning routine, or a chance to take five minutes out of a busy day. Whatever you choose to do, try to approach the tea drinking as a moment of love and care, rather than another thing you have to do!
This challenge is here to be enjoyable, comforting and effective - but remember, everyone is different. Without working with you one on one or in a course setting, I can't know what the rest of your diet, lifestyle or endo is like, so there may be some factors that impact how much you respond to these teas. However, I have chosen teas that I have seen help my clients time and time again, so whilst I expect us all to have individual responses that vary, I am very hopeful that all of you will notice a positive difference!
So, let’s get started with week 1!
This week, we’re kicking off with lowering inflammation and therefore, pain.
The Symptom
Did you know that inflammation is a natural part of the healing process? That’s why endometriosis lesions cause inflammation at the site because the body is attempting to heal. Inflammation in short bursts to facilitate healing is essential, but when it’s chronic and in high levels, that’s when things get tricky.
In the case of endometriosis, because it’s ever present, so is the inflammation. This creates increasing amounts of inflammation, and the symptoms of inflammation are heat, redness, swelling and pain. So naturally, the more inflammation, the more pain.
We know that endometriosis is an inflammatory disease, and we know that inflammation is a key driver of the pain caused by endo, so one of the main ways we can lower and control the pain, is through lowering inflammation.
There are many things that can increase or decrease inflammation, including what we eat, how much sleep we get, how much exercise we get, stress, etc. Post-Christmas and New Year, we’re much more likely to experience more inflammation and pain, because we tend to have less sleep, move less, and eat more of the foods that have been shown to raise inflammation, like sugar, baked goods and alcohol.
So, that’s why I want to ease us into lowering inflammation with our first drink this week: ginger tea.
The Tea
Why are we starting with ginger? Here’s a quick low-down on the power of ginger root powder (just to be clear, the research has been conducted on ginger root powder, not fresh ginger, as the powder is more concentrated):
Ginger has been shown to be just as effective as ibuprofen and mefenamic acid for dysmenorrhea (painful periods), so if you’re looking to get off NSAIDS, this could help. It’s also been shown in multiple other studies to reduce dysmenorrhea.
It’s a generally a powerful anti-inflammatory and pain reliever, demonstrated in numerous studies.
Aids with migraines and headaches and has been shown to be as effective as migraine medication when taken at a dose of 250mg at the start of the migraine. Migraines and headaches are common with inflammation and can also come with hormonal imbalances like low progesterone and oestrogen dominance.
Additionally, it’s been shown in research to aid with nausea – something that can be caused by excessive inflammation during our periods!
Ginger is a natural antihistamine, shown to just as effective as loratadine. Histamine contributes to cramping during ovulation and menstruation, and people with endo tend to have excessive amounts of histamine in the pelvic cavity because endometriosis lesions contain mast cells (which release histamine!).
How To Drink
Dose wise, the recommendation for dysmenorrhea (according to the research) is between 750 mg to 2000 mg per day, split into doses of around 250-500 mg in the lead up to your period and during the first 3-4 days of your cycle.
To lower inflammation and pain overall for endo, ginger can be used daily – starting with a lower dose and building up to a dose that feels helpful. The safe upper limit of ginger root powder is 2000 mg, but always check with your doctor first.
For our challenge, we’ll be using ginger root powder in tea. Taking a lot of ginger in one go can cause diarrhoea, which is why in so many of the studies the dose is split across the day. We can likewise split our dose. I’ve found that many of my clients can tolerate (taste wise and stomach wise!) about 250 mg – 500 mg of ginger per tea, it’s spicy, but a dash of good quality plant milk or organic, grass-fed, full-fat dairy milk can help lower that. If you’d prefer, you can go even lower, to what works for your taste buds and body.
You can start with just one ginger tea and see how you feel, and then if you like, you can build up slowly. The aim is that we’re all drinking at least one ginger tea a day to start fighting the inflammation, but remember, the studies are on total doses of 750 mg to 2000 mg, so don’t give up if 250 mg a day doesn’t do much for you!
You can pick up ginger root powder from the supermarket or any shop that sells herbs and spices. Organic is of course always better, to avoid any added pesticides, but just use what you can get your hands on!
If a ginger tea isn’t quite what you fancy, you can try my turmeric latte recipe which includes ginger and I’ve linked to in the show notes. This recipe has added anti-inflammatory benefits which will super charge this week’s tea challenge. Alternatively, you can add some extra spices such as vanilla, cardamom and cinnamon, and a splash of a good quality milk, to making a warming wintery tea.
You can use a digital scale to one decimal place (basically, it needs to be able weigh milligrams) to weigh your ginger out, ours cost about £10-£15 and is by Salter. If you don’t have access to a scale, 1/8th of a teaspoon is roughly 250 mg of ginger depending on the spoon size. I used a set of measuring spoons when weighing the ginger out, but if you’re using an everyday teaspoon it might be a little more or less.
You can drink your ginger tea whenever you’d like, but if you suffer with bloating, a good option would be to drink your tea two hours after a meal, because ginger can help stimulate motility in the gut – essentially helping to move gases and food down the digestive tract. This should help with endo belly trigger by food!
Must-read Precautions
Of course, having the odd herbal tea doesn't need a doctor's approval, but for this challenge, we're using therapeutic (effective) doses of ginger, especially if you're aiming for the higher amounts.
This is a free challenge where I cannot tailor general info to each individual, so it's important you take responsibility for your own health and ensure that ginger tea is right and safe for you. Please consult your doctor/health professional before beginning the challenge.
This is especially important for those who are pregnant or trying to conceive. Up to 2000 mg is thought to be safe for pregnancy, and is used for morning sickness, but it’s always best to consult a medical practitioner.
Please also be mindful if you have a thyroid disorder as ginger may affect the thyroid though this is largely no longer a concern, but it’s always better to be safe, right?
Additionally, be cautious if you have interstitial cystitis - ginger may cause some bladder burning in those with sensitive bladders, though many are fine with it.
Finally, these precautions extend to anyone with a history of a stomach ulcer, just in case the ginger is too spicy/aggravating, I'm not sure if this would be a problem, but better to check.
Ginger is also a natural blood thinner, which is usually helpful, but if you’re already on blood thinners, medication (some medications thin the blood as a side effect) or have a surgery coming up, it’s important to discuss with your doctor and surgeon.
Ginger additionally helps to prevent high blood pressure, but if you tend to have low blood pressure, it's best to speak with your doctor just in case.
As I said, ginger is generally very safe at doses of up to 2000 mg, but it’s always important to consult a medical professional, especially if you have one of the conditions I just mentioned.
So that’s it! That’s this week’s tea. Feel free to jazz it up and turn it into something special if you’d like to – just avoid adding sugar, because sugar raises inflammation, so will be cancelling out what we’re doing! If you want to sweeten it, try monk fruit, allulose or stevia.
Okay, so get cosy, start sipping and I’ll see you next week!
Show Notes
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23865123/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26177393/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25912592/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ptr.6730
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7171779/
https://avivaromm.com/endometriosis-natural-approach/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23657930/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18403946/
https://www.europeanreview.org/article/10145
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