The benefits of ginger to prevent cancer may not be widely known. One component of ginger that plays a role in preventing cancer is gingerol, phytonutrient in ginger which also gives a unique flavor to ginger. Gingerol can prevent the growth of colon cancer cells. University of Minnesota conducted experiments on a group of mice. In the gingerol group, there were 4 mice with a large bowel tumor, while in the untreated group there were 13 mice with tumor growth.