INTRODUCTION:
The co-occurrence of functional dyspepsia (FD) and obesity presents a complex clinical scenario, characterized by overlapping symptoms and shared underlying mechanisms. While dietary ginger supplementation has shown promise in managing FD symptoms and modulating body composition in other contexts, the specific impact of ginger on body fat loss in patients with FD remains inadequately explored. This study aimed to investigate the effects of ginger supplementation on body fat content in patients with functional dyspepsia.

METHODS:
An open-label clinical trial was conducted in the Internal Medicine Department at the University of Debrecen, in patients diagnosed with FD. Participants were administered a 540 mg ginger capsule twice daily for 8 weeks. Body fat percentages were measured at baseline and after the intervention. The primary outcome was the change in body fat percentage. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS:
A total of 62 patients were enrolled, and 51 completed the study. The mean body fat percentage at baseline was 26.8 ± 3.4. After 8 weeks of intervention, the mean body fat percentage was 25.9 ± 3.1, p = 0.173. These results indicate that ginger supplementation did not have a significant impact on body fat composition in FD patients. However, there was a significant reduction in functional dyspepsia symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS:
Ginger supplementation showed no significant impact on body fat loss in patients with functional dyspepsia. However, improvements in dyspeptic symptoms suggest ginger's potential efficacy as an adjunct treatment for managing FD. The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT06313814.