The Simultaneous Effect of Ginger Supplementation and Exercise on Inflammatory Factors: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Document Type : Meta-Analysis Article

Authors

1 Department of sports sciences, Faculty of Humanities and social sciences, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.

2 Department of physical education, University of Saravan, Saravan, Iran

Abstract

Aim: Chronic inflammation is associated with the onset and progression of wide range diseases. Supplementation with ginger due to its bioactive compounds and exercise as a non-pharmacological intervention has both shown anti-inflammatory effects. However, the available evidence on their synergistic effects is sparse. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to systematically review and Meta-analyze randomized clinical trials on the simultaneous effect of ginger supplementation and exercise on inflammatory markers.

Method: A comprehensive search of articles published in Persian and English in Pub Med, Science Direct, Scopus, SID, and Magiran databases was conducted until 2025, and eligible articles were extracted and entered into the meta-analysis. Random effects models were used to meta-analyze the average effect size in the study of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein, and Also Fixed effects models were used for tumor necrosis factor alpha using CMA2 software.

Results: A total of 16 studies that examined the effects of ginger supplementation and exercise on inflammatory factors were meta-analyzed. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the effects of ginger supplementation and exercise on inflammatory factors did not significantly affect C-reactive protein (ES=-0.41, 95% CI=-0.23 to -1.06, p=0.20), but significantly reduced interleukin-6 (ES=-0.619, 95% CI=-0.054 to -1.184, p=0.03) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (ES=-0.741, 95% CI=-0.459 to -1.023, p=0.001).

Conclusion: The results of the meta-analysis indicate that the combination of ginger supplementation and exercise has significant anti-inflammatory effects through the reduction of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha, although no significant effect was shown on C-reactive protein.

Highlights

The findings of the present systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that ginger supplementation is an effective method for reducing the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha during physical activity.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 September 2025
  • Revise Date: 14 November 2025
  • Accept Date: 17 November 2025
  • First Publish Date: 17 November 2025

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