Background: Ginger (rich in gingerols and shogaols) rhizomes have been widely used as dietary spices and to treat different diseases in Asia. Cinnamon (containing cinnamic aldehyde and cinnamyl aldehyde) is used as spices and as a pharmacological agent in ancient medicine. Intense exercise can result in oxidative damage to cellular compounds and also muscle soreness. Efficacy of dietary ginger and cinnamon as antioxidant agents and their effectiveness in exercise performance and reducing muscle soreness have been investigated in limited studies on humans. So we studied the effects of dietary ginger and cinnamon on oxidative stress and exercise performance and body composition in Iranian female taekwondo players.

Methods: Sixty healthy trained women, aged 13-25 years, were enrolled in the 6 week investigation and randomly categorized in three groups (cinnamon, ginger, or placebo) and received three grams of ginger, cinnamon, or placebo powder each day depending on the group they belonged. Human malondialdehyde (MDA) level, exercise performance, and body composition were evaluated in the beginning and at the end of the study and compared among the groups.

Results: Forty-nine of the participants completed the 6 weeks intervention. There was minor decrease in MDA in cinnamon and ginger group compared with the placebo group and significant increase in exercise performance in ginger group (P < 0.01), and considerable increase in skin fold in cinnamon groups (P < 0.01), whereas there were significant accretion in BMI for ginger group (P < 0.1) and cinnamon group (P < 0.05). No significant changes in MDA, EP, and BMI were observed between groups over time. But there were specific changes in skin fold between cinnamon and placebo group (P < 0.05) and cinnamon and ginger groups (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Six weeks administration of ginger and cinnamon in athlete women did not show any significant change in MDA level, body composition, and exercise performance as compared with the placebo group.