Daily turmeric and ginger beverage consumption attenuates physical menstrual cycle symptoms in sub-elite female footballers: a pilot study

van der Wolf-Ong, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2725-9525, Parker, CJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4272-1637, Procter, EL ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1321-5463, Abbott, SJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0670-0537, Harries, S ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3673-742X, Everton, C, Hough, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6970-5779, Burbeary, R, Mayer, M, Martin, D, Juett, LA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4197-7778, Varley, I ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3607-8921 and Clayton, DJ, 2026. Daily turmeric and ginger beverage consumption attenuates physical menstrual cycle symptoms in sub-elite female footballers: a pilot study. Physical Activity and Nutrition, 30 (1), pp. 1-8. ISSN 2733-7545

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Abstract

Purpose: Female footballers frequently experience menstrual cycle-related symptoms, often most severe during menstruation, compounding exercise-induced muscle soreness, and impairing performance and wellbeing. Turmeric and ginger have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and may alleviate menstrual symptoms and reduce exercise-induced muscle soreness, but have not been studied as a whole-food combined beverage. This study investigated the effects of daily consumption of a turmeric and ginger containing beverage (TGB) on menstrual cycle related symptoms, post-match soreness, and markers of inflammation.

Methods: Six sub-elite female footballers completed a six-month protocol involving a 99-day control period without TGB consumption (CON), followed by an 89-day intervention period with self-administered daily TGB consumption (TGB). Each TGB contained juice from 35 g turmeric root and 6 g ginger root, with a black pepper mix (BioMax Uptake Blend®). Menstrual cycle-related symptoms were self-reported daily during menstruation, while muscle soreness (leg-specific and whole-body) and plasma concentrations of creatine kinase (CK), C-reactive protein (CRP), and intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP) were assessed immediately after five competitive matches during each period.

Results: Physical menstrual symptoms were reduced 10% during TGB compared with CON (P = 0.013). No differences between trials were observed for psychological menstrual symptoms (P = 0.209), post-match soreness (leg-specific: P = 0.388; whole-body: P = 0.633), CK (P = 0.303), CRP (P = 0.917), or I-FABP (P = 0.322).

Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence that a daily turmeric and ginger-containing beverage can reduce physical menstrual cycle-related symptoms in female footballers, providing scope for larger placebo-controlled trials to confirm efficacy.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Physical Activity and Nutrition
Creators:	van der Wolf-Ong, J., Parker, C.J., Procter, E.L., Abbott, S.J., Harries, S., Everton, C., Hough, J., Burbeary, R., Mayer, M., Martin, D., Juett, L.A., Varley, I. and Clayton, D.J.
Publisher:	Korea Society for Exercise Nutrition
Date:	March 2026
Volume:	30
Number:	1
ISSN:	2733-7545
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.20463/pan.2026.0001 DOI 2605428 Other
Rights:	This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	20 Apr 2026 10:18
Last Modified:	20 Apr 2026 10:18
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55567

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