Ginger is a widely used culinary spice with promising health benefits relevant to healthy aging. In model organisms, lifespan extension has been reported for ginger extract and for isolated ginger-derived constituents such as 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol. Ginger and its bioactives have also been studied for effects on inflammation and oxidative stress pathways, and there is evidence they can influence mitochondrial and cellular stress-response biology that tends to shift with age. It also supports cognitive performance, including memory, attention, and thinking speed. These combined effects make ginger a valuable compound for both long-term cellular protection and short-term mental clarity.

This Article Covers:

• Ginger and the Hallmarks of Aging
• Ginger lifespan-extending results 
• What Makes Ginger Beneficial?
• How Does Ginger Support Healthy Aging?
• Why Is Ginger Included in NOVOS Core?

Key Takeaways:

✔ Ginger is a widely used culinary spice with science-backed longevity benefits.

✔ Contains compounds like gingerol that extend lifespan in model organisms.

✔ Helps reduce cellular stress and aging markers such as lipofuscin.

✔ Protects against cellular damage caused by oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation.

✔ Enhances the body’s antioxidant defenses, including glutathione and key enzymes.

✔ Reduces chronic low-grade inflammation (inflammaging).

✔ Improves mitochondrial health and stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis.

✔ Supports cognitive performance, including attention, thinking speed, and memory.

✔ Offers both long-term protection and short-term cognitive enhancement.

Ginger and the hallmarks of aging

A recent review maps ginger and its constituents across the 12 hallmarks of aging, summarizing evidence that spans cell studies, animal models, and human trials. The authors report the strongest concentration of preclinical evidence around pathways linked to nutrient sensing, mitochondrial biology, chronic inflammation, and gut dysbiosis, while also noting that human validation for “longevity” outcomes is still limited overall. (R)

Ginger extends lifespan 

Ginger has been used worldwide for centuries, but when discussing lifespan data it’s important to distinguish between ginger extract (a mixture of compounds) and isolated ginger constituents like 6-gingerol and 6-shogaol, because the lifespan studies are not all testing the same intervention.

Ginger extract (GE) has lifespan evidence in multiple invertebrate models. In fruit flies (Drosophila), lifespan extension has been reported when ginger extract is added to the diet, alongside changes consistent with improved antioxidant defenses and metabolic resilience (R). In worms (C. elegans), a separate study also reported lifespan extension with ginger extract, together with healthier aging markers such as improved movement and reduced lipofuscin accumulation (an age-associated pigment), with mechanistic signals consistent with stress-response/aging pathways  (R).

There are also lifespan studies using purified single compounds rather than the whole extract. In C. elegans, purified 6-gingerol increased mean and maximum lifespan and improved stress resistance, and it reduced lipofuscin accumulation in the worms (R). Separately, 6-shogaol, a different molecule from 6-gingerol, has also been reported to extend C. elegans lifespan in a dose-dependent manner, with mechanistic data consistent with enhanced stress-tolerance pathways  (R).

What are the benefits of ginger? 

Ginger has been studied across multiple areas of health, with evidence spanning human trials and preclinical models.

How Does Ginger Protect Against Radiation?

Ginger extract may help protect cells from damage, not just in the context of aging biology, but also in models of severe acute injury such as gamma radiation. In a rather gruesome experiment (not supported by NOVOS!), mice were exposed to high doses of whole-body gamma radiation. Mice given ginger extract prior to radiation exposure showed significantly better survival rates (R).

A survival curve showing percentage survival over time post-irradiation, with data points and a decreasing trend. Mice irradiated with radioactive radiation survived far better compared to controls (squares) when given ginger before radiation exposure (dots). Upper box: mice received 9 Gray of radiation. Lower box: mice received 10 Gray of radiation

Researchers believe ginger reduce damage under oxidative stress by helping neutralize reactive molecules (free radicals) and by lowering lipid oxidation (R, R). “Free radical scavenging” simply means helping neutralize highly reactive molecules that can be generated during inflammation, toxic exposures, and other cellular stressors, before they propagate damage to sensitive targets like membranes, proteins, and DNA.

Radiation and many other stressors can drive lipid oxidation, and membrane lipids are especially vulnerable to this kind of oxidative injury. Ginger has been reported to support endogenous antioxidant defenses, including glutathione (GSH), and may influence antioxidant enzyme systems such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase in experimental models.

The same types of damage caused by radiation, oxidation of lipids, DNA, and proteins, also occur gradually during aging. At the same time, our internal antioxidant defenses, including enzymes like superoxide dismutase and catalase, decline with age.

How does ginger consumption improve physiological health?

Ginger has been shown to improve physiological health:

• Reduces Inflammaging 
• Supports Epigenetic Regulation 
• Improves Mitochondrial Functioning 
• Enhances Cognitive Performance  

Ginger may help reduce inflammaging, support healthy gene regulation, and support mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells. In experimental models, ginger and its bioactives have been reported to influence pathways linked to mitochondrial health, including markers associated with mitochondrial biogenesis, which is the process of creating new mitochondria (R, R). With age, mitochondrial function and cellular energy metabolism tend to become less resilient, so supporting these pathways is relevant to healthy aging

By contrast, at a daily intake below one NOVOS Core sachet, ginger extract has been evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in adults with hip or knee osteoarthritis and moderate pain, where the clearest clinically meaningful effects clustered around pain showing statistically significant reductions in visual analog scale pain and in gelling (regressive) pain after rising versus placebo (R).

At a higher daily intake consistent with taking two sachets per day, human evidence from randomized controlled trials and open-label studies suggests benefits beyond joint pain, spanning reduced eye fatigue and shoulder stiffness with improved peripheral blood-flow measures (R), improved attention and processing performance (R), improved immune and inflammation markers (stronger neutrophil signaling and lower NET-related blood markers) (R), and fewer motion-sickness symptoms overall (R).

Ginger offers two key advantages: it helps protect the body from aging-related damage over the long term, while also enhancing cognitive performance in the short term

NOVOS CORE & Ginger Supplementation