Guide
Ginger tea: how to make it, and what a cup actually provides
Ginger tea is simple to make and doesn't need a research claim to be worth drinking — but a cup delivers a small, unmeasured amount of ginger, well below the doses used in any clinical trial covered on this site.
Ginger tea is easy to make and doesn't need a research claim behind it to be worth drinking — but a cup delivers a small, unmeasured amount of ginger, well below the gram-level doses used in the clinical trials covered on this site. Here's how to make it, and what that gap actually means.
How to make it
The basic method: simmer a few thin slices or a tablespoon of grated fresh ginger in 1-2 cups of water for 10-20 minutes (a shorter steep for a milder cup, longer for a stronger one), then strain. Dried ginger powder or tea bags work the same way with a shorter steep, typically 5-10 minutes. Lemon juice, honey, cinnamon or fresh turmeric are common additions afterward — none of them change what the ginger itself has been studied for, they're just flavor. See ginger and turmeric if you're combining the two.
What a cup actually delivers, compared with trial doses
A cup made with a slice or two of fresh ginger, or about half a teaspoon of dried powder, isn't a measured or standardized amount the way a capsule is, and it's a small fraction of what trials have tested. For comparison: a 576-person trial that found a nausea benefit used 0.5 to 1.5 grams of ginger a day, in capsule form, alongside standard anti-nausea medication; a motion-sickness trial used 1,000-2,000 mg as a single pretreatment dose before the triggering motion. A cup or two of tea a day is very unlikely to reach those amounts, which is the honest answer to "does ginger tea work as well as a supplement" — it hasn't been tested at the amounts that showed an effect, so this page can't say it does. See ginger benefits: what the research does and doesn't show for what those trials found, dose by dose, and how much ginger should you take a day? for the full range.
What ginger tea hasn't been tested for
No trial we found tested ginger tea itself as the intervention — the research behind ginger's studied effects used capsules, powder or a standardized extract. That means claims that a cup of ginger tea specifically helps a cold, digestion or nausea are extrapolating from research done at a different dose and in a different form, not reporting a tested result for tea. There's also no dedicated research on whether ginger tea disrupts sleep if drunk in the evening, or whether it breaks a fast — the latter depends on the specific fasting protocol being followed and whether anything besides ginger and water (honey, milk) is added, which is a question for that protocol's own rules rather than something ginger research answers.
Questions people ask
What are the benefits of ginger root tea?
No trial has tested tea specifically, so this page can't attribute a specific benefit to a cup of it. Ginger benefits: what the research does and doesn't show covers what capsule and powder doses have actually shown, at amounts higher than a typical cup provides.
How much ginger root should I use for tea?
There's no research-backed amount for tea specifically. A common starting point is a few thin slices or about a teaspoon of grated fresh ginger per cup, adjusted to taste.
Can you drink ginger root tea every day?
No trial has specifically tested daily ginger tea for safety or effect. A cup delivers a small amount compared with the doses used in ginger's safety and side-effect research — see ginger side effects for what's documented at higher, more concentrated amounts.
Does ginger root tea have caffeine?
Plain ginger tea made from ginger root alone doesn't naturally contain caffeine. See does ginger root tea have caffeine? for the full answer, including when a blended product might.
Related reading: ginger benefits: what the research does and doesn't show, how much ginger should you take a day?, and ginger powder vs liquid.
Sources
- Ginger A National Institutes of Health reference database describes ginger's active compounds (gingerols, shogaols), confirms its GRAS food-flavoring status, notes it's commonly used for nausea and motion sickness, and flags mild common side effects plus a bleeding-risk interaction with warfarin.
- Ginger (Zingiber officinale) reduces acute chemotherapy-induced nausea: a URCC CCOP study of 576 patients In a 576-patient trial, cancer patients taking 0.5-1.5 grams of ginger a day alongside their standard anti-nausea medication had less severe nausea on the first day of chemotherapy than those on placebo, with the biggest effect at the two lower doses tested.
- Effects of ginger on motion sickness and gastric slow-wave dysrhythmias induced by circular vection In a small 2003 trial, people prone to motion sickness who took 1,000-2,000 mg of ginger before being spun in a rotating chair reported less nausea, took longer to feel sick, and recovered faster than those given placebo.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.