The Healing Garden: Botanicals for Women’s Fertility
Traditional herbal remedies for women’s health are inspiring renewed interest as researchers explore and often confirm herbal knowledge carefully passed down over centuries. Cutting-edge research for women’s health needs is now focusing on fascinating beneficial chemical structures, such as polyphenols and diarylheptanoids, that naturally occur in many species of the ginger family.
Ginger & Estrogen
The ginger family (Zingiberaceae) contains a stunning number of natural compounds which show healthful and even medicinal properties. Just one ginger genus alone, the alpinia branch, which includes greater galangal (Alpinia galanga) and lesser galangal (Alpinia officinarum), has over 200 potentially useful compounds currently identified. Diarylheptanoids along with polyphenol lignans are of particular interest to women’s health because they can function as phytoestrogens, plant substances that activate human receptors for estrogen. Galangal is still on the cusp of rediscovery, but its close relative, true ginger (Zingiber officinale) is extensively researched and easier to find locally.
Ginger’s health benefits for women are especially wide-ranging because it is a particularly abundant natural source of phytoestrogens in addition to having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In fact, research shows that ginger assists across a woman’s lifetime. It is shown to relieve pain from primary dysmenorrhea, or painful periods, and it facilitates the absorption of iron, counterbalancing anemia that is common in women with heavy periods.
PCOS & Morning Sickness
Ginger’s phytochemical gingerol is showing promise for treating metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, which are strongly associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a prevalent cause of cycle difficulties and infertility. A clinical study showed just two grams of ginger powder for twelve weeks caused marked improvement across metabolic syndrome symptoms, notably insulin resistance. Moreover, while ginger is a help for insulin resistance, its phytoestrogens also support ovarian function and likely help counteract the androgenic (masculine-type) symptoms of PCOS.
Ginger has long been known to reduce nausea and vomiting, an effect that is especially helpful in the first trimester of pregnancy for women experiencing morning sickness. It appears that herbal supplements including ginger, and related turmeric, increase breastmilk in nursing mothers, though more extensive studies are needed. Ginger also reduces menopausal symptoms in women, again most likely because the abundant phytoestrogens counterbalance symptoms of low estrogen.
Black Ginger
Beyond assisting with optimal women’s health across a lifetime, ginger is being studied as an anti-cancer agent for women’s cancers. The diarylheptanoids found in ordinary ginger have been found to inhibit multiple tumor cell lines. Moreover, black ginger (Kaempferia parviflora) has been shown to inhibit growth of breast cancer cells, cervical cancer cells, and ovarian cancer cells, and appears to prevent the cells from invading other tissues. In fact, a 2025 study has taken the anti-cancer research a step further, combining ginger and curcumin from turmeric to effectively target ovarian cancer in preliminary animal experiments, leading to interest in further clinical studies.
Black ginger is also a source of a-linolenic acid, a highly beneficial fatty acid, which is already known to increase fertility through studies on flaxseed oil. A preliminary study shows that black ginger’s concentration of a-linolenic acid is far ahead of most natural sources, only surpassed by flaxseed oil, which is currently easier to obtain since it is cultivated in temperate climates.
Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) and its polyphenolic compound curcumin show an impressive list of health benefits, particularly for chronic inflammatory diseases, and now curcumin is being explored as a treatment for PCOS and ovarian insufficiency. Studies show that curcumin is helpful to counteract metabolic syndrome, reducing insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. PCOS is strongly correlated with metabolic syndrome, so curcumin also helps with the characteristic symptoms of PCOS, such as insulin resistance, weight gain and an increase in masculine physical characteristics.
Turmeric contains phytoestrogens and appears to support ovarian function, so it is in preliminary studies to treat premature ovarian insufficiency, an area of particular interest to women seeking pregnancy later in life. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin, combined with the phytoestrogens, have a cumulative benefit for both metabolic and estrogen imbalance. So, as with ginger, turmeric’s preliminary studies indicate it is useful to treat dysmenorrhea, menopausal symptoms and cancers of the reproductive system.
Medicinal & Culinary Use
If taking herbs as supplements, it is recommended to consult a physician familiar with therapeutic herbals. Ginger has been extensively studied over the years, including in pregnancy, and has not shown significant side effects. However, more recently rediscovered herbs, such as turmeric, have not been studied in pregnancy yet. Curcumin in culinary turmeric is not easily absorbed when simply integrated into the diet and is quickly eliminated, so it is naturally regulated. However, curcumin can be a potent medicinal when isolated and commercially formulated for high absorption.
However, these tropical herbs have been used in a culinary setting for centuries and can be an excellent addition to a healthy diet, especially since using the whole root preserves the unique interaction of the many compounds. Most can be grown in a family garden, even in colder climates, if they are started indoors early in the season. Herbs traditionally have been enjoyed in teas or infused in honey, as minimal heating preserves the beneficial nutrients. So, time-honored tradition—now supported by cutting-edge research—suggests taking the time to enjoy a spiced, herbal-infused tea, sweetened with local honey, while enjoying the bounty of a tropical healing garden.
Written for Family Foundations magazine by Rosemary Shannon Imrick. Rosemary is mother to twelve children by birth and international adoption, and homeschools her children along with her husband Michael in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A freelance writer and copyeditor, she taught English Composition at Purdue University Fort Wayne for sixteen years. She now manages Shannon Haven, an agricultural business dedicated to continuing the Shannon family legacy.
Marilyn Shannon, Rosemary’s mother, wrote Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition, which also contains helpful information for optimizing male and female fertility. Find the book in the CCL store. Find more healthy recipes and information about PCOS in our book combo: Food for Fertility & PCOS.
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