Ginger Oil: Benefits, Uses, Dilution, Safety & How to Take It

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Ginger oil, also sold as ginger essential oil, is the aromatic oil distilled from ginger root, and it puts the root's warmth into a few drops you can breathe in, rub in or add to a meal.89 It's the most concentrated form of a root healers have relied on for thousands of years, and the jobs tradition gave ginger, settling the stomach, easing stiff joints and warming a sluggish gut, are the same ones modern trials have tested.51310

Cut into a fresh knob of ginger and the scent reaches you before the bite does: bright, peppery and warm. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginger is a warming, pungent herb for the lungs and digestion, best for people who run cold, with chilled hands and feet, loose stools, nausea or a cold that's just starting.6 Those look like separate complaints, but Chinese medicine reads them as signals of one upstream pattern, too much cold and too little movement inside the body, and ginger is the classic herb that warms you and gets things moving again.611

Ginger is the first herb in my field guide, Top 50 Healing Herbs & Essential Oils, and it shows up in nearly every protocol I write.6 I've called digestion the number one benefit of ginger oil, and I typically take one to two drops in a meal.5

Did you know?

• Essential oils are 50 to 100 times as concentrated as the herb itself, which is why ginger oil is measured in drops.6

• Researchers have identified 194 compounds in ginger's volatile oil, most of them terpenes, the fragrant molecules distillation carries into the bottle.12

• In rats, ginger oil and turmeric oil each cut alcohol-induced damage to the stomach lining by about 85%.13

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What is ginger oil (ginger essential oil)?

The knobby "root" you buy is a rhizome, an underground stem, and its scent comes from a family of aromatic compounds called terpenes. In one analysis of steam-distilled ginger oil, zingiberene made up 35.7%, followed by α-curcumene at 12.0%.14 The mix shifts from source to source: another ginger oil, tested in a study of healthy volunteers, carried more citral than zingiberene.15

The bite you taste in fresh ginger comes mostly from a second group of compounds, the gingerols, which sit in the root's resin rather than its volatile oil.12 That difference decides which bottle you want.

Steam-distilled oil or CO2 extract?

Steam-distilled ginger oil holds the aromatic compounds, and the heat of distillation leaves most of the gingerols behind and breaks down some of the root's other active compounds.9 A CO2 extract is made without that heat. At low pressure, it yields a clear extract much like the essential oil; at higher pressure, it pulls out the whole resin, the oleoresin, and one such extract of Peruvian ginger held 254.71 mg of 6-gingerol per gram.9 For taking it by mouth, I recommend a ginger CO2 extract, which carries even more of the root's compounds.5

A short history of ginger oil

Ginger has been medicine for more than 2,000 years in Ayurvedic medicine and Chinese medicine, where it's a warming herb for digestion and for a cold that's just starting.65 Chinese medicine treats fresh and dried ginger as two different medicines: fresh ginger, sheng jiang, calms the stomach and eases the first chill of a cold, while dried ginger, gan jiang, is hotter and used for deep internal cold.11 Distilling the oil came much later. It gathers the root's warming, aromatic compounds into a form you can breathe in or work into your skin, which is how the modern trials have tested it.13

What is ginger oil good for?

How ginger oil works in your body

Ginger oil works along the line Chinese medicine drew for the root: it warms, it gets things moving, and it calms inflammation.11 Here's how that plays out in your body, step by step:

The warmth is something you can feel. In an experimental study of healthy volunteers, breathing ginger oil had an activating effect on blood pressure, heart rate and measures of well-being compared with a control, which matches the warming, waking quality Chinese medicine gives the herb.156 As I've pointed out, zingiberene, its lead compound, belongs to the sesquiterpenes, and oils rich in them tend to be very grounding, good especially when you're traveling or flying.5

Ginger oil benefits, ranked by evidence

Ranked by evidence, ginger oil does the most for nausea, followed by sore knees and backs, digestion, cold-season comfort, calmer inflammation and the liver.

Does ginger oil help with nausea?

Breathing ginger oil can settle nausea within minutes, and the 301-person trial shows it. That trial ran in a U.S. recovery unit after outpatient surgery, where people who felt nausea were randomly given a gauze pad soaked in ginger oil, in a blend of ginger, spearmint, peppermint and cardamom oils, in isopropyl alcohol or in saline. They took three deep breaths and rated their nausea again 5 minutes later. Nausea fell more with ginger oil and with the blend than with saline, and fewer people in those two groups asked for anti-nausea medicine.1 In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 184 people with nausea and vomiting after surgery, which also tested lavender and rose oils, nausea improved in about two-thirds of those who breathed ginger oil against fewer than half of those given plain water.2

The Iranian trial brought the oil right to the patient. In 100 adults having a kidney removed, 50 by open surgery and 50 by laparoscopy, with 25 in each group, nurses put 2 drops of ginger oil on a small gauze square pinned to the gown collar after surgery and refreshed it every 30 minutes for 2 hours; the comparison groups got saline. Groups were assigned by alternating days, and people knew which treatment they got, since an aroma can't be hidden. After open surgery, vomiting in the first 2 hours averaged 0.16 episodes with ginger oil against 2.92 with saline, and from hours 3 to 6 it was 0 against 1.40. After laparoscopic surgery, the first-2-hour averages were 1.39 against 6.0.20

The same trial measured how much anti-nausea medicine people needed, and the oil cut that too. With ginger oil on the collar, patients needed far less ondansetron, a standard anti-nausea drug: after open surgery, none at all, against an average of 2.38 mg with saline, and after laparoscopic surgery, 2.0 mg against 4.74 mg.20

Two more trials point the same way. In 60 adults after abdominal surgery in Korea, in a study that wasn't randomized, nausea and vomiting scores were lower with ginger oil than with saline, with the biggest drop in the first 6 hours.29 And in a three-group randomized trial of adults after thyroid surgery in Turkey, those who breathed ginger oil had lower nausea and pain scores than those on routine care, and peppermint oil helped too.30

For nausea, ginger pairs well with peppermint oil, a combination I recommend.5 In a randomized trial after oral surgery, among the 57 people who developed nausea, a blend of peppermint, ginger and lavender oils at 1% each eased nausea more than water, with no side effects reported.31

Ginger oil has also been tested as comfort during chemotherapy. In a trial of 60 women with breast cancer, each woman tried both 5 days of ginger oil and an artificial ginger scent, worn in a necklace, without knowing which was which. With ginger oil, nausea was lower in the first, acute phase, and appetite and day-to-day functioning improved by margins the researchers judged clinically meaningful, though nausea and vomiting across the whole 5 days didn't differ between the two scents.21 In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 49 children on chemotherapy, nausea changed about as much with ginger oil as with plain water or a baby-shampoo scent.32 A 2021 review of 11 studies found inhaled aromatherapy, with ginger among the oils, eased chemotherapy nausea in 7 of 9 adult studies.19

Reviews of the wider aromatherapy research point the same way. A 2018 Cochrane review found people who used aromatherapy needed rescue anti-nausea drugs less often, though nausea scores at the end of treatment looked similar to placebo, on evidence the reviewers rated low in quality.18 And a 2024 meta-analysis of eight randomized trials found aromatherapy eased the severity of nausea after surgery, with ginger, lavender and peppermint oils standing out; its ginger result comes from the Iranian trial above.17

To use it, put 1 to 2 drops on a tissue or gauze pad and take three slow, deep breaths, the way people did in the 301-person trial, or diffuse 2 or 3 drops.617 For more natural relief, see essential oils for nausea, how to get rid of nausea and motion sickness.

Can ginger oil ease knee and back pain?

Warmth is what a stiff, aching joint wants, and ginger brings it. On my show, I've recommended a blend of oils mixed with a little coconut oil and rubbed right on an aching elbow or knee, pairing warming ginger and clove oil with cooling peppermint and anti-inflammatory frankincense or helichrysum.33

The back-pain trial ran in Thailand. There, 140 older adults with chronic low back pain were randomly assigned, 70 to each group, to 30-minute sessions twice a week for 5 weeks of either Swedish massage with ginger oil or traditional Thai massage. Both groups improved, and the ginger-oil group improved more on pain and disability, with less disability still at 15 weeks.3

The knee studies used the oil in massage, too. In Hong Kong, 59 older adults with moderate to severe knee pain had six massages over 3 weeks with 1% ginger oil and 0.5% sweet orange oil, with olive oil alone, or no massage at all, and neither the people massaged nor the researchers measuring them knew which oil was used. One week after the last massage, pain and physical function had improved more with the ginger blend than in either comparison group; by 4 weeks, the groups had drawn level.4 In Turkey, 68 adults with knee osteoarthritis who massaged their own knees with ginger oil twice a week, on top of their usual treatment, had less pain and better function at weeks 1 and 5 than those on usual treatment alone, in a controlled study.22 And in a randomized, controlled study of 90 nursing-home residents with knee osteoarthritis, leg massage with ginger and rosemary oils in black seed oil eased pain and improved function and quality of life more than massage without the oils; its gains held, though smaller, at 8 weeks, while plain massage slipped back to where it started.23

For one sore spot, mix 3 to 5 drops of ginger oil into a teaspoon of carrier oil and massage it in for a few days; for a larger area or everyday use, use 2 drops per teaspoon, counting every oil in a blend toward that total.6 The aromatherapy massage and essential oils for arthritis guides have more blends to try.

How does ginger oil help digestion?

Your gut sits at the center of this picture. In Chinese medicine, your body can run too hot or too cold, too dry or too damp, and as I've explained, with digestive issues you typically want to lightly warm and dry the body; ginger does both.5 When digestion runs cold, food sits, and you feel heavy, gassy or bloated after meals.

Ginger oil can also work on your gut from the outside, rubbed into your belly, and that's how it has been tested in people. In a randomized trial in Turkey, 40 nursing-home residents with constipation got a 15-minute abdominal massage with ginger and lavender oil, 5 days a week for 4 weeks, or no added care. By weeks 2 and 4, the massage group had softer stools and lower constipation scores, from the oils and the massage together, since the comparison group got no massage.10 In rats, ginger oil by mouth cut alcohol-induced damage to the stomach lining by about 85%, about the same as turmeric oil, and restored the lining's antioxidant enzymes.13

To use it, mix 2 drops into a teaspoon of carrier oil and rub it into your belly, the abdominal rub I suggest.67 I've also written that ginger oil helps with menstrual troubles as well as nausea and digestion, so the same diluted rub can go on your lower belly at that time of the month.76 Our ginger page covers the root's own trials for period cramps. You can also add a drop or two to a meal or a cup of ginger tea, and for more steps, see natural constipation relief.5

How does ginger oil help in cold and flu season?

That's where ginger comes in. Chinese medicine treats a cold with warm broths, warm herbal teas and warming herbs, and ginger is one of those warming herbs.346 On my show, I've said that if you want to strengthen your immune system and warm your insides, ginger oil is a great oil to use, as is clove oil, and I've called thyme and ginger together probably the most effective one-two punch against the common cold and flu.34 As I've pointed out, that's why some of the most ancient cold remedies pair ginger tea with cinnamon, another warming herb.5

Ginger oil also fights germs: in lab tests, it stopped the growth of Staphylococcus aureus at 1.0 mg per mL and E. coli at 2.0 mg per mL by breaking down the bacteria's cell membranes.14

At the first chill, diffuse 2 or 3 drops of ginger oil with thyme oil or a citrus oil like lemon oil or lime, which I've said blend well with it, or stir a single drop into hot tea.75 If you're always cold, a warming oil like ginger is the one Chinese medicine would match to you.6 The guides to natural cold remedies and essential oils for colds have more to try.

How to use ginger oil

On your skin, I recommend a carrier oil such as coconut, olive or jojoba oil, because ginger is a little spicy.5 Here are the amounts for each use:

Can you take ginger oil internally?

Yes, in small amounts, if you're a healthy adult. In Ancient Remedies, I wrote, "It's safe to ingest a drop or two."7 I've written that oils from commonly eaten herbs, spices and roots, ginger among them, are safe to take by mouth at 1 or 2 drops, about 60 milligrams, the common amount in medical studies.7 On my show, I've named eucalyptus, birch and wintergreen as oils not to take internally, while ginger oil is among the oils that can be taken in small doses on a regular basis.35

I take it only with food in most cases, and typically one drop is enough; one to two drops can go into tea or a smoothie.5 Internally, I like taking frankincense and ginger oil together; I've called them two of my absolute favorites.33 I've even added ginger oil to recipes like apple pie.5

• 1 or 2 drops of a pure ginger oil, or a ginger CO2 extract, labeled Zingiber officinale.75

• In food or drink: a meal, a spoonful of raw honey, tea or a smoothie, since oils don't dissolve in plain water.56

• Small amounts, with food: large amounts of any volatile oil can start to tax the liver and digestive tract, but in small amounts, an oil like ginger can be very healthy internally.5

The FDA lists ginger oil among the essential oils generally recognized as safe as food flavorings, and rats given ginger oil by mouth at up to 500 mg per kilogram a day for 13 weeks showed no harm to their organs or blood.3637 Scaled to a person's body weight, a drop or two, about 60 milligrams, is a tiny fraction of that amount.7

How to buy and store ginger oil

Start with the label, since ginger oils vary in what they carry:

• The Latin name and origin: a dark glass bottle that names Zingiber officinale and the country of origin.6

• Pure and certified organic when you can find it: 100% ginger oil, with no added fragrance or perfume oil.65

• The right form for the job: steam-distilled oil for diffusing and massage, and a CO2 extract for taking by mouth.59

• A batch test report: a seller who can show what's in the oil, since zingiberene and citral levels shift from oil to oil.815

Store the bottle cool, dark and tightly closed; most oils other than citrus keep 2 to 3 years. An oil that smells off has oxidized and can irritate your skin, so replace it.6

Ginger oil side effects and who should be careful

Ginger is spicy on the skin, and skin reactions to ginger are documented: in a patch-test study of 55 people with suspected contact allergies, 7 reacted to ginger spice at both strengths tested, more than to any other spice.38 So use the amounts in the dilution table above, never apply ginger oil undiluted, and patch test first: apply your diluted blend to the inner forearm and wait 24 hours, and if you see redness or itching, skip that oil.6 Keep it away from your eyes, the inside of your nose and broken skin, and see essential oil safety for more.

In pregnancy, I recommend smelling ginger oil rather than taking it internally: a diffuser is enough, and the scent can be really calming.5 Our guide to morning sickness has more natural relief.

Children are much smaller, so use smaller amounts, and on kids, use a carrier oil like a little coconut oil, as I've said on my show.35 Use the children's strength in the dilution table, diffuse lightly and briefly, keep ginger oil by mouth for adults, and keep the bottle locked away.6 In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 49 children on chemotherapy, the ginger aroma was well tolerated.32

The bottom line

Ginger oil: frequently asked questions

References

1. Hunt R, Dienemann J, Norton HJ, Hartley W, Hudgens A, Stern T, et al. Aromatherapy as treatment for postoperative nausea: a randomized trial. Anesth Analg. 2013;117(3):597-604. doi:10.1213/ANE.0b013e31824a0b1c
2. Karaman S, Karaman T, Tapar H, Dogru S, Suren M. A randomized placebo-controlled study of aromatherapy for the treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Complement Ther Med. 2019;42:417-421. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2018.12.019
3. Sritoomma N, Moyle W, Cooke M, O'Dwyer S. The effectiveness of Swedish massage with aromatic ginger oil in treating chronic low back pain in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Complement Ther Med. 2014;22(1):26-33. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2013.11.002
4. Yip YB, Tam AC. An experimental study on the effectiveness of massage with aromatic ginger and orange essential oil for moderate-to-severe knee pain among the elderly in Hong Kong. Complement Ther Med. 2008;16(3):131-8. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2007.12.003
5. Axe J. Benefits of Ginger Essential Oil. Dr. Josh Axe on YouTube. 2017 (ginger CO2 extract for internal use, at 0:15; one to two drops in a meal, at 1:43; only with food in most cases, at 1:50; digestion as its number one benefit, and lightly warming and drying the body in Chinese medicine, at 2:01; zingiberene among the sesquiterpenes, which tend to be very grounding, good especially when traveling or flying, at 4:24-4:59; a single drop in hot tea, and small amounts internally, at 2:42-2:59; in pregnancy, smelling it rather than taking it, at 5:41; peppermint plus ginger for nausea, at 5:51; a warming herb for a cold, and ginger tea with cinnamon, at 6:27; diffusing it with lemon and lime, and a carrier oil because it is a little spicy, at 7:18-7:27; one drop is enough, tea, smoothies and recipes, at 7:46-8:03).
6. Axe J. Top 50 Healing Herbs & Essential Oils: A Field Guide to God's Pharmacy. DrAxe.com protocol; 2026 (Ginger, Herb #1, p. 7: top uses, how to take it and its Traditional Chinese Medicine profile; "Read This First: Essential oil safety & dilution": dilution chart, patch test, diffusing, bath, children and pets; "Safety & interactions": ginger in high doses with blood thinners; buying and storage notes; Rosemary, p. 43).
7. Axe J. Ancient Remedies: Secrets to Healing with Herbs, Essential Oils, CBD, and the Most Powerful Natural Medicine in History. Little, Brown Spark (Hachette Book Group); 2021 (oils from commonly consumed herbs, spices, roots and berries, ginger oil among them, taken by mouth at 1 or 2 drops, about 60 milligrams, and the stop rule for dizziness or nausea, p. 146; the Ginger entry: diffuse 2 or 3 drops, rub 1 or 2 drops into the abdomen, a drop or two safe to ingest, p. 155).
8. Jeena K, Liju VB, Kuttan R. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of essential oil from ginger. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2013;57(1):51-62.
9. Cárdenas-Toro FP, Meza-Coaquira JH, Gonzalez-Gonzalez M, Carrera C, Fernández Barbero G. Supercritical CO(2) Extraction of Oleoresin from Peruvian Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe): Extraction Yield, Polyphenol Content, Antioxidant Capacity, Chemical Analysis and Storage Stability. Molecules. 2025;30(5):1013. doi:10.3390/molecules30051013
10. Aydinli A, Karadağ S. "Effects of abdominal massage applied with ginger and lavender oil for elderly with constipation: A randomized controlled trial". Explore (NY). 2023;19(1):115-120. doi:10.1016/j.explore.2022.08.010
11. Axe J. Ginger: Benefits, Uses, Nutrition & Side Effects. DrAxe.com. 2026.
12. Liu Y, Liu J, Zhang Y. Research Progress on Chemical Constituents of Zingiber officinale Roscoe. Biomed Res Int. 2019;2019:5370823. doi:10.1155/2019/5370823
13. Liju VB, Jeena K, Kuttan R. Gastroprotective activity of essential oils from turmeric and ginger. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2015;26(1):95-103. doi:10.1515/jbcpp-2013-0165
14. Wang X, Shen Y, Thakur K, Han J, Zhang JG, Hu F, et al. Antibacterial Activity and Mechanism of Ginger Essential Oil against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Molecules. 2020;25(17):3955. doi:10.3390/molecules25173955
15. Stappen I, Hoelzl AS, Randjelovic O, Wanner J. Influence of Essential Ginger Oil on Human Psychophysiology after Inhalation and Dermal Application. Nat Prod Commun. 2016;11(10). doi:10.1177/1934578X1601101035
16. Lai YS, Lee WC, Lin YE, Ho CT, Lu KH, Lin SH, et al. Ginger Essential Oil Ameliorates Hepatic Injury and Lipid Accumulation in High Fat Diet-Induced Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. J Agric Food Chem. 2016;64(10):2062-71. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.5b06159
17. Wang JY, Huang HY, Chu WO, Peng TR, Lee MC, Chen SM, et al. Aromatherapy for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Tzu Chi Med J. 2024;36(3):330-339. doi:10.4103/tcmj.tcmj_240_23
18. Hines S, Steels E, Chang A, Gibbons K. Aromatherapy for treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;3(3):CD007598. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007598.pub3
19. Toniolo J, Delaide V, Beloni P. Effectiveness of Inhaled Aromatherapy on Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: A Systematic Review. J Altern Complement Med. 2021;27(12):1058-1069. doi:10.1089/acm.2021.0067
20. Hosseini FS, Adib-Hajbaghery M. Ginger Essence Effect on Nausea and Vomiting After Open and Laparoscopic Nephrectomies. Nurs Midwifery Stud. 2015;4(2):e28625. doi:10.17795/nmsjournal28625
21. Lua PL, Salihah N, Mazlan N. Effects of inhaled ginger aromatherapy on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and health-related quality of life in women with breast cancer. Complement Ther Med. 2015;23(3):396-404. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2015.03.009
22. Tosun B, Unal N, Yigit D, Can N, Aslan O, Tunay S. Effects of Self-Knee Massage With Ginger Oil in Patients With Osteoarthritis: An Experimental Study. Res Theory Nurs Pract. 2017;31(4):379-392. doi:10.1891/1541-6577.31.4.379
23. Pehlivan S, Karadakovan A. Effects of aromatherapy massage on pain, functional state, and quality of life in an elderly individual with knee osteoarthritis. Jpn J Nurs Sci. 2019;16(4):450-458. doi:10.1111/jjns.12254
24. Funk JL, Frye JB, Oyarzo JN, Chen J, Zhang H, Timmermann BN. Anti-Inflammatory Effects of the Essential Oils of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) in Experimental Rheumatoid Arthritis. PharmaNutrition. 2016;4(3):123-131. doi:10.1016/j.phanu.2016.02.004
25. Liu CT, Raghu R, Lin SH, Wang SY, Kuo CH, Tseng YJ, et al. Metabolomics of ginger essential oil against alcoholic fatty liver in mice. J Agric Food Chem. 2013;61(46):11231-40. doi:10.1021/jf403523g
26. Axe J. Best Essential Oils for Anxiety & Panic Attacks. The Dr. Axe Show. October 25, 2017 (turmeric and ginger oils as the top two for inflammation, at 12:40-13:02).
27. Zhou HL, Deng YM, Xie QM. The modulatory effects of the volatile oil of ginger on the cellular immune response in vitro and in vivo in mice. J Ethnopharmacol. 2006;105(1-2):301-5. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2005.10.022
28. Panyod S, Wu WK, Peng SY, Tseng YJ, Hsieh YC, Chen RA, et al. Ginger essential oil and citral ameliorates atherosclerosis in ApoE(-/-) mice by modulating trimethylamine-N-oxide and gut microbiota. NPJ Sci Food. 2023;7(1):19. doi:10.1038/s41538-023-00196-0
29. Lee YR, Shin HS. Effectiveness of Ginger Essential Oil on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Abdominal Surgery Patients. J Altern Complement Med. 2017;23(3):196-200. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0328
30. Pashaei S, Akyüz N, Ersoy YE. The Effect of Ginger and Mint on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Patients Undergoing Total Thyroidectomy. J Perianesth Nurs. 2025;40(6):1451-1459. doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2025.02.004
31. Ishikawa E, Fujisawa T, Kimura Y, Hojo T, Kamekura N, Kido K. Effect of aromatherapy with peppermint, ginger, and lavender on postoperative nausea severity after oral surgery under general anaesthesia: A single-blind randomized controlled trial. Complement Ther Med. 2025;90:103169. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2025.103169
32. Evans A, Malvar J, Garretson C, Pedroja Kolovos E, Baron Nelson M. The Use of Aromatherapy to Reduce Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea in Children With Cancer: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. J Pediatr Oncol Nurs. 2018;35(6):392-398. doi:10.1177/1043454218782133
33. Axe J, Rubin J. 7 Answers for Arthritis: Home Remedies for Arthritis. The Dr. Axe Show. 2017 (Dr. Axe on frankincense and ginger essential oil taken internally, at 14:18; a blend of oils with coconut oil rubbed on an aching elbow or knee, at 14:26; warming ginger and clove, cooling peppermint and anti-inflammatory helichrysum and frankincense in a homemade rub, at 14:54; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWj5GuYitN4&t=858s).
34. Axe J. 8 Surprising Essential Oil Remedies. The Dr. Axe Show. 2017 (ginger oil the number one oil for digestive issues, very warming and anti-inflammatory, at 4:34; why a cold is called a cold in Chinese medicine, at 14:33; ginger as a warming herb for the immune system, with clove, at 14:51; thyme and ginger for the common cold and flu, at 15:12; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWEEKIaHbeQ&t=274s).
35. Axe J. Dangers of Essential Oils: Top 10 Essential Oil Mistakes to Avoid | Dr. Josh Axe. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2017 (oils not to take internally, and ginger oil among oils fine in small doses on a regular basis, at 2:19-2:41; smaller amounts and a carrier oil for children, at 7:13; YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vuLggcLDLg&t=139s).
36. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 21 CFR 182.20, Essential oils, oleoresins (solvent-free), and natural extractives (including distillates) generally recognized as safe; ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) listed. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations.
37. Jeena K, Liju VB, Kuttan R. A preliminary 13-week oral toxicity study of ginger oil in male and female Wistar rats. Int J Toxicol. 2011;30(6):662-70. doi:10.1177/1091581811419023
38. Futrell JM, Rietschel RL. Spice allergy evaluated by results of patch tests. Cutis. 1993;52(5):288-90.
39. Miao Y, Sun Y, Wang W, Du B, Xiao SE, Hu Y, et al. 6-Gingerol inhibits hair shaft growth in cultured human hair follicles and modulates hair growth in mice. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57226. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057226

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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This article is for educational purposes. See our medical disclaimer.