Ask the doctor.(ginger; natural progesterone cream)

I have two questions: 1. Does ginger help with nausea/stomach virus symptoms? 2. What are your thoughts on natural progesterone cream?

--Kendra Davidson

If you're experiencing nausea as part of a vim infection, ginger is one of the best home remedies you can choose. It's one of 12 herbs that have been scientifically proven to work, and I use it in my hospital practice for chemotherapy-induced, post-surgical and pregnancy-related nausea.

The Chinese have used ginger as a flu remedy for 2,300 years. Their medical system classifies colds and flu as an invasion of a heat pathogen or a cold pathogen in the body. If you have a fever and yellow mucus, you have a heat pathogenic invasion. If you have only a slight fever, chills, nausea and clear mucus, you have a cold pathogenic invasion. Ginger is classified in Chinese medicine as a "warm" herb that can improve digestion and soothe the stomach. So Chinese herbalists would say that if you have a flu with nausea and clear mucus, then warm ginger should drive out the cold pathogen and eliminate nausea and other symptoms. The compounds 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol are known to exhibit analgesic, antipyretic (lowers fevers), antitussive (calms cough), and hypotensive (lowers blood pressure) properties.

Dosages range from 1 gram of fresh or dried herb 3 times per day to 170 grams of encapsulated extract 3 times per day. Ginger tea made from fresh roots works best for pregnancy. When buying preparations in your health food store, follow the manufacturer's recommendation.

Progesterone ...