Does ginger help with headaches and migraines?

Nobody can say yet. The newest and fullest review, published in 2026, pooled 8 randomized trials with 594 patients and concluded that it is currently too uncertain whether ginger works, either for an attack or to prevent attacks. Every outcome it graded came out low or very low certainty. The positive numbers that circulate come from one or two small trials each, or from products that mix ginger with other herbs.

Unsettled. The reason the answer is unclear is size and mixture. Eight trials in under six hundred people, testing powder, extract and blends with feverfew or curcumin, cannot be added up into one confident result. The one trial that tested ginger extract alone for prevention over 3 months found it no better than placebo.

Percent pain-free 2 hours after treating an early, mild attack

One pilot trial of 60 people, sponsored by the maker, testing a mixture of feverfew and ginger taken under the tongue. The share of the effect owed to ginger cannot be separated out. The abstract gives percentages only, so no interval is drawn. Source: card ev-gimg-08 below.

What the trials found

During an attack

A 2021 meta-analysis of 3 placebo-controlled trials found ginger raised the chance of being pain-free 2 hours after treatment, with a risk ratio of 1.79 (95% CI 1.04 to 3.09). Its abstract gives no absolute rates. One of those three trials was the feverfew and ginger product in the chart above, and the authors did not grade certainty.

The one pooled estimate on a risk scale

Randomized trials, pooled

Above 1.0 means more people pain-free with ginger. The interval runs from 1.04 to 3.09, so the lower end almost touches no effect. One of the three trials was the feverfew and ginger mixture shown above, and the review did not grade certainty. A newer review rates the same data as low certainty. Source: card ev-gimg-04 below.

In an emergency room in Brazil, 60 adults with an attack got 100 mg of intravenous ketoprofen plus either 400 mg of ginger extract or placebo. The ginger group had a better clinical response at 1, 1.5 and 2 hours. The 2026 review looked at that same trial and rated the gap, 1.27 points lower on the pain scale at 2 hours, as little or no difference, on low certainty evidence.

In a trial of 100 people with migraine without aura, ginger powder and sumatriptan eased attacks to a similar degree at 2 hours. There was no placebo arm, the abstract gives no numbers, and it does not state the dose of powder. The 2026 review rates this comparison as very low certainty.

To prevent attacks

The largest trial of ginger alone for prevention gave 107 adults with episodic migraine 200 mg of dry ginger extract three times a day, or placebo, for 3 months. The share who had at least half as many attacks did not differ between the groups. Both groups improved by a similar amount.

Where ginger was added to a preventive drug, the 2026 review found headache pain about 3.18 points lower at 3 months than with the drug alone, across 2 trials in 183 people. The certainty is low, and the abstract does not name the scale.

A 2026 trial in 60 people with migraine tested 8 weeks of a capsule with 300 mg of curcumin, 7.5 mg of gingerol and 3.75 mg of piperine, two a day. Headache severity fell more than on placebo, while how often attacks came and how long they lasted did not differ. Curcumin is the main ingredient in that capsule, so it says little about ginger itself.

Who should be careful

In the trial against sumatriptan, ginger powder caused fewer side effects than the drug, though the abstract gives no rates. In the sublingual feverfew and ginger trial the side effects reported most often were numbness in the mouth and nausea, and with a mixture it is not possible to say which herb caused them.

Not for everyone. Among 171 adults on warfarin who kept a diary for 16 weeks, ginger was one of the products linked with more self-reported bleeding. That is an observational finding in people on a blood thinner, and it rests on what they wrote down. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health advises anyone who takes any medicine to talk with a health care provider before using ginger or other herbal products, because some herbs and medicines interact in harmful ways.

We found no trial data on ginger for migraine in pregnancy, in children or in people with kidney or liver disease.

What expert bodies say

The NCCIH ginger fact sheet, last updated in February 2025, does not list migraine or headache among ginger's studied uses. We looked for a position from the American Headache Society, the American Academy of Neurology, NICE and EFSA on ginger for migraine and did not find one. The 2012 American guideline on nutraceuticals for migraine prevention did not rate ginger.

How we searched

Searched: a local copy of the PubMed 2026 baseline, with queries for ginger, Zingiber and gingerol together with migraine and headache, which returned one relevant trial. Europe PMC was then searched by title for ginger with migraine (8 records) and feverfew with ginger (3 records), alongside web searches for meta-analyses and guidelines, the local ClinicalTrials.gov index (no ginger and migraine trial) and the NCCIH fact sheet. Retraction Watch was checked for every included paper and none was retracted. Search run on 7 October 2026.

Included: two meta-analyses (2026 and 2021), five randomized trials, one cohort of warfarin users for safety, and the NCCIH fact sheet.

Excluded: a commentary on the 2021 meta-analysis with no new data, an open-label 2005 study of the feverfew and ginger product superseded by the randomized pilot, a sponsor reanalysis of that pilot, narrative reviews without their own pooled estimate, an umbrella review covering the same meta-analysis, a trial protocol, and laboratory and animal studies.

What we read: abstracts. Two papers were in the local corpus. The rest came from Europe PMC, each quotation confirmed by a second, independent request by DOI.

What we could not get: full texts of the two meta-analyses and of four trials, which are paywalled. The dose of ginger powder in the sumatriptan trial is not in its abstract.

What would change this answer

Larger, independent placebo-controlled trials of a standardized ginger product, measuring the share of people pain-free at 2 hours for an attack, and attack frequency for prevention. We found no such trial registered in the local ClinicalTrials.gov index.
Trials of ginger on its own. Three of the positive results come from blends with feverfew or curcumin, or from ginger added to a drug, and none of them can isolate what ginger contributes.
Side effect rates in numbers. The abstracts say ginger was well tolerated and better tolerated than sumatriptan without giving rates.

More on the root itself, from nausea to minerals: Ginger root →

The food behind this question

Ginger: what the supplement trials found — numbers, evidence and safety
Ginger root: a modest anti-nausea capsule, a trace of minerals in the kitchen — numbers, evidence and safety

Sources

ev-gimg-01 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of RCTs with RoB-2 and GRADE · n = 594
Conclusions The volume of the existing evidence is limited and combined with either a low or very low certainty of evidence, it is currently too uncertain if ginger is effective either as an acute or preventative treatment.
Who: patients with migraine in randomized trials of ginger alone or as an add-on, versus placebo or active drugs; searched to April 2026
Effect: certainty of evidence low to very low for all outcomes; no firm conclusion on acute or preventive use
Certainty: The newest and most complete synthesis; no full text in PMC, only the abstract. Preparations differ (powder, extract, mixtures with pyrethrum and herbs).
BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, 2026 (Atkins, Manger, Albarqouni) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-02 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of RCTs with GRADE · n = 183
For preventative treatment, ginger in addition to an active drug compared with the same active drug with or without placebo, may result in an important reduction in headache pain severity at 3 months (pooled MD -3.18, 95% CI -3.94 to -2.42; 2 studies, 183 participants; low certainty evidence).
Who: people with migraine taking a preventive drug, with ginger added versus the drug with or without placebo
Effect: headache pain severity at 3 months pooled MD -3.18 (95% CI -3.94 to -2.42); 2 studies; low certainty
Certainty: Only 2 RCTs; the pain scale is not named in the abstract (probably 0-10). For ginger together with herbs versus valproate and amitriptyline, certainty is very low.
BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, 2026 (Atkins, Manger, Albarqouni) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-03 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs with GRADE · n = 60
For acute treatments, ginger with ketoprofen compared with placebo with ketoprofen may have little to no difference on headache severity at 2 hours post (mean difference (MD) 1.27 lower, 95% CI 1.46 lower to 1.08 lower; 1 study, 60 participants; low certainty evidence).
Who: adults treated for a migraine attack with intravenous ketoprofen plus ginger or placebo
Effect: headache severity at 2 hours MD 1.27 lower (95% CI 1.46 lower to 1.08 lower); low certainty
Certainty: A single RCT; the authors regard 1.27 points as a clinically insignificant difference. The mixture with pyrethrum and the powder vs sumatriptan: very low certainty.
BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, 2026 (Atkins, Manger, Albarqouni) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-04 · Meta-analysis or systematic review · systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of RCTs · n = 3 RCTs
Overall, compared with control group in migraine patients, ginger treatment is associated with substantially improved pain free at 2 h (RR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.04-3.09; P = 0.04) and reduced pain scores at 2 h (MD = -1.27; 95% CI = -1.46 to -1.07; P
Who: migraine patients in 3 RCTs of ginger versus placebo, searched to September 2020
Effect: pain-free at 2 h RR 1.79 (95% CI 1.04 to 3.09); pain score at 2 h MD -1.27 (95% CI -1.46 to -1.07)
Certainty: Only 3 RCTs (one is a pyrethrum mixture from the manufacturer); GRADE not done. A newer 2026 review rates the same data as low certainty.
The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2021 (Chen, Cai) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-05 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial · n = 60
Results Patients treated with ginger showed significantly better clinical response after 1 h ( p = 0.04), 1.5 h ( p = 0.01) and 2 h ( p = 0.04).
Who: adults with episodic migraine seen in the emergency room during an attack; 400 mg ginger extract (5% active ingredient) or placebo plus 100 mg intravenous ketoprofen
Effect: better clinical response at 1 h (p = 0.04), 1.5 h (p = 0.01) and 2 h (p = 0.04)
Certainty: A single dose, one city (Brazil); absolute response rates are not given in the abstract. NCT02568644.
Cephalalgia, 2019 (Martins et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-06 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial · n = 107
Conclusions Ginger provides no greater benefit in the prophylactic treatment of migraine when compared to placebo.
Who: adults 18 to 60 with episodic migraine, not on preventive medication; 200 mg dry ginger extract (5% active ingredient) three times daily or placebo for 3 months
Effect: proportion with at least 50% fewer attacks did not differ between ginger and placebo
Certainty: The largest RCT of prevention with ginger alone; both groups improved equally (placebo effect). NCT02570633.
Cephalalgia, 2020 (Martins et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-07 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · double-blind randomized comparative trial · n = 100
Efficacy of ginger powder and sumatriptan was similar.
Who: patients with acute migraine without aura, randomized to ginger powder or sumatriptan, five attacks each
Effect: mean headache severity fell at 2 hours in both groups; efficacy similar
Certainty: No placebo, abstract without numbers; the powder dose is not stated in the abstract (full text is paywalled). A 2026 review rates this comparison as very low certainty.
Phytotherapy Research, 2014 (Maghbooli et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-08 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · multicentre double-blind placebo-controlled pilot randomized trial (3:1) · n = 60
At 2 hours, 32% of subjects receiving active medication and 16% of subjects receiving placebo were pain-free (P= .02).
Who: adults meeting IHS migraine criteria with 2 to 6 attacks a month, treating attacks early at the mild headache stage; 45 active, 15 placebo
Effect: pain-free at 2 h 32% vs 16% (P = .02); pain relief 63% vs 39% (P = .002)
Certainty: A mix with pyrethrum, so the contribution of ginger alone cannot be isolated; the sponsor is the manufacturer. Treated the early mild phase of an attack.
Headache, 2011 (Cady et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-09 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial · n = 60
Mixodin supplementation significantly reduced headache severity (-1.93 ± 0.30vs. -0.36 ± 0.21; P = 0.001) compared with placebo, whereas frequency and duration did not differ significantly between groups (P = 0.737 and P = 0.873, respectively).
Who: patients with migraine; two capsules daily, each with 300 mg curcumin, 7.5 mg gingerol and 3.75 mg piperine, or placebo, for 8 weeks
Effect: headache severity change -1.93 vs -0.36 (VAS, P = 0.001); frequency P = 0.737 and duration P = 0.873, no difference
Certainty: A mix where gingerol is in a small dose and the main component is curcumin; the effect of ginger alone cannot be assessed.
Nutr J, 2026 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-10 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · double-blind randomized comparative trial · n = 100
Clinical adverse effects of ginger powder were less than sumatriptan.
Who: patients with acute migraine without aura, ginger powder or sumatriptan
Effect: clinical adverse effects fewer with ginger powder than sumatriptan; size not given in abstract
Certainty: No adverse event frequencies in the abstract.
Phytotherapy Research, 2014 (Maghbooli et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-11 · Randomized controlled trial(s) · multicentre double-blind placebo-controlled pilot randomized trial · n = 60
Feverfew/ginger was generally well tolerated with oral numbness and nausea being the most frequently occurring adverse event.
Who: adults with migraine treating attacks with sublingual feverfew and ginger or placebo
Effect: generally well tolerated; oral numbness and nausea most frequent adverse events
Certainty: No frequency in the abstract; a mixture, so numbness may be from pyrethrum.
Headache, 2011 (Cady et al.) · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-12 · Observational data · prospective longitudinal cohort · n = 171
The CAM therapies associated with an increased risk of self-reported bleeding included cayenne, ginger, willow bark, St. John's wort, and coenzyme Q(10).
Who: 171 adults on warfarin anticoagulation, Canadian hospital, 16-week diary
Effect: ginger use associated with increased risk of self-reported bleeding
Certainty: Self-report; warfarin users only. The quote says nothing about ginger combined with NSAIDs.
Pharmacotherapy, 2007 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the abstract
ev-gimg-13 · Position of an expert body · agency fact sheet
If you take any type of medicine, talk with your health care provider before using ginger or any other herbal products; some herbs and medicines interact in harmful ways.
Who: people taking any medicine
Effect: consult a clinician before using ginger with medicines
Certainty: The NCCIH page (Feb. 2025) does not mention migraine or headache; no AHS, AAN, or NICE position on ginger for migraine found.
NCCIH, Ginger (fact sheet), last updated February 2025 · checked 2026-10-07 · we read the section

How this page was made. Evidence was extracted from primary sources into cards, every number was re-checked against the source, and the text was written from those cards. Bioma Learn has no human medical reviewer at this time, and we say so rather than invent one. Methodology. This is information, not medical advice.