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THURSDAY, May 14, 2009 (Health.com) — Cancer patients may be able to fight chemotherapy-induced nausea using a common pantry spice—ginger.

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers found that a smidgen of purified ginger given in supplement form—equivalent to one-quarter teaspoon to one-half teaspoon of the spice each day—could reduce chemotherapy-related nausea by 40% on the first day of treatment when used in combination with traditional anti-nausea medications.

The findings were released Thursday and will be presented later this month at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting.

“If we can reduce nausea on day one, then patients tend to have reduced nausea throughout treatment,” says lead study author Julie L. Ryan, PhD, of the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. About 70% of cancer patients experience nausea during chemotherapy, although anti-emetic drugs often help prevent actual vomiting.

In the new study, 644 people—mostly breast-cancer patients—were given supplements twice a day for six days, including the three days before and after they started chemotherapy. The patients took 0.5, 1, or 1.5 grams of ginger daily, which was divided into two doses, or they took identical placebo supplements that contained no ginger. Ginger-taking patients—regardless of daily dose—reported a greater reduction in nausea on the first day of treatment than those taking a placebo.

Those taking the two lowest doses of ginger reported greater relief than those taking the highest dose, however, so taking more of the spice isn’t necessarily better.

“We were surprised to find that the lowest doses were the most effective. I am guessing that at one gram the gut reaches maximum absorption,” Ryan says.

Next page: What about ginger ale or ginger snaps?