De veelzijdigheid van gember

04 Aug, 2021

Door: Geert Verhelst

Tot de ‘pleiotrope’ kruiden in de fytotherapie, die heel breed kunnen worden ingezet, behoort naast kurkuma, knoflook, groene thee en ashwagandha, zeker ook gember. Bekend is vooral de braak-stillende werking, vaak toegepast bij zwangerschapsmisselijkheid. Maar de reviews van (pre)klinische studies in het afgelopen decennium laten ook nog andere, wetenschappelijk onderbouwde, werkingen en toepassingen zien van die veelzijdige gember.

Al minstens 5000 jaar wordt de wortelstok van gember in de traditionele Aziatische geneeskunde ingezet voor tientallen indicaties. Afkomstig uit tropisch India, wordt gember (Zingiber officinale) niet meer in het wild aangetroffen. Dit familielid van kurkuma wordt wel in alle (sub)tropische streken van de wereld gecultiveerd. Het is zijn dikke, vlezige, zich grillig vertakkende en aromatische wortelstok met een goudgele kleur die fytotherapeutisch wordt ingezet. Zijn werkzaamheid dankt gember in de eerste plaats aan fenolen, in de verse plant vooral vertegenwoordigd door gingerolen. Die worden door drogen en opslaan deels omgezet tot de corresponderende shogaolen, die op hun beurt door hydrogenatie paradolen opleveren. De belangrijkste actieve ingrediënten zijn 6-gingerol en de overeenstemmende 6-shogaol. Verder bevat gember ook essentiële olie, waarvan vooral de terpenen zoals alfa-curcumeen, bèta-bisaboleen en zingibereen tot de werking bijdragen.

De bekendste toepassing van gember is die bij misselijkheid en braken. Diverse placebogecontroleerde studies onderbouwen een veilige,^1-3 anti-emetische werking bij zwangerschapsmisselijkheid.^4-9 Verlichting kan ook vaak verwacht worden bij bewegingsziekte,^9-12 misselijkheid na gynaecologische operaties,^13-15 door chemotherapie^16-21 en andere medicijnen.^22,23 Deze werking dankt de plant vooral aan het feit dat die in de afferente vagale vezels de serotoninereceptor afblokt.
Nog breder wordt gember algemeen als een maagversterkend en spijsvertering bevorderend kruid gezien. Hij verhoogt de afscheiding van maagzuur bij een zwakke maagfunctie, waardoor eiwitten beter verteerd worden en mineralen beter opgenomen worden. Omdat tegelijk de afscheiding van het, tegen zuren beschermende, maagslijm verhoogt en de maagdarmperistaltiek toeneemt, worden als indicaties vaak genoemd: eetlustgebrek, indigestie, zure reflux, flatulentie, constipatie en preventie van maagzweren. Tot dat laatste draagt overigens het afremmen van Helicobacter pylori bij.

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Bronvermelding:
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