Don’t we all like things that can be used interestingly in multiple ways than just one obvious one? Well, most of the herbs and spices in our kitchen do exactly that. And I am not even talking in culinary terms, but of major health benefits and overall wellness. This brand new year, I am beginning this series about how to get the best of your kitchen pharmacy. It being winter in this part of the world, I guessed ginger would be the best candidate to start it off on a refreshingly warm note.
We use this multi-talented participant of our kitchen as oil, powder, dried-up chunks or fresh juicy knuckles. Gingerol is the main ingredient that gives it anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Ginger oil also acts as a great antifungal ointment. Not bad, right? So, let’s explore how ginger really can help keep our wellness factor up.
7 Benefits of Including Ginger in Your Diet
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Cough and cold:
Among other minerals and nutrients, ginger has magnesium and vitamin C. As we all know, vitamin C comes in quite handy dealing with pesky flu symptoms. Ginger is quite effective in dealing with a few types of respiratory viruses as well. Warming the body from within, it is quite helpful for cough, cold and sore throat symptom improvement. To make this healing tea, take one and half cups of water and add an inch of ginger. Boil and reduce it to about a cup of water. Add half a teaspoon of green tea leaves and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Squirt in a dash of lemon and a dollop of honey. Taking this concoction 2 to 3 times a day will help quickly minimize cough and cold discomfort.
However, ginger and honey combo can produce quite a bit of heat in the body. So, moderation is the word if the weather isn’t too cold or there is a medical history of hypertension.
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Detoxification and Immune system:
Ginger is a great source of antioxidants and can be found in most of the easy-to-make detox drinks. Take a bottle full of water and add a few slices of ginger, a couple of mint sprigs, a few berries of your choice and a dollop of honey. Leave it overnight. The next day, you can sip your way to detoxified glory. It gives a boost to our immune system by getting rid of unwanted toxins and cleaning up the lymphatic system. Gingerol, the main component of this herb, is also quite effective in dealing with many types of bacteria. It is good for oral health too.
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Digestive health:
The phenolic compounds found in ginger are a boon to the digestive system. Starting from the mouth, it encourages saliva production, then bile production for better digestion and also helps relieve gastric irritations. Ginger has the ability to relax the smooth muscle lining of our digestive system. This in turn helps movement of food better from stomach all through to the large intestine. The whole thing is actually quite beneficial in easing bloating and constipation symptoms. Helping better breakdown of food and thus absorption in our body, ginger helps us get the most of what we eat. It is also believed to be effective in treating indigestion, reflux symptoms and intestinal ulcers. Ginger has been known since ancient times to be quite helpful in sea, motion and morning sickness and even nausea.
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Healthy weight management:
Ginger improves digestion of fat and it’s better absorption in the body. This translates to fewer unnecessary prompts/indicators for minerals and nutrients in the form of food from our body. Minimizing cravings helps maintain ideal body weight through diet. Helping better breakdown of food and absorption in our body, this medicinal root encourages healthy weight management.
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Heart health:
Ginger has anti-clotting powers and as such is quite helpful in minimizing the risks for heart attack or stroke. Also, it is believed to reduce bad cholesterol in our body that is one of the major factors contributing to heart diseases. There are ongoing studies to prove this, but traditionally they have been quite popularly used for cardiac health, even in Ayurvedic medicine. Gingerol and protease from this herb promote cardiovascular circulation.
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Diabetes:
Diabetics or those at diabetic risk can benefit from this curative rhizome too. It is known to improve insulin sensitivity of our body, thus tackling the problem at it’s root. However, the most important point here is, any change in diabetic medicine regimen should be done by the physician. Taking ginger for diabetes doesn’t mean once can shrug off prescription medications. Ginger does help manage sugar levels in our body, but medication changes should be left to the discretion of your physician. In fact, it would be advisable for diabetic patients to consult their physician before commencing a ginger regimen.
There have been researches and studies on the efficacy of ginger in this context, but they are still in their infancy and need more time to be actually conclusive. Even if there aren’t many proven studies, taking ginger helps us avoid other complications related to diabetes. It works towards the overall health of our body and provides protective benefit to kidneys, liver and eyes.
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Hair:
This one doesn’t really require including ginger in your diet, but rather of applying it topically. Though I haven’t personally tried it myself, it is believed to help regrowth of hair in people dealing with hair fall problem. You can apply it directly to the scalp or mix it with olive oil before applying if you have sensitive skin. Keep it on for about half an hour and then shampoo it off. Follow this routine about 2 times per week. Being a natural remedy it might take a while, say about a month, to start showing results. Patience and persistence are the keys here 🙂 .
Ginger has beta-carotene, capsaicin, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium and copper. Amongst other benefits, it is also believed to reduce risk factors for colorectal, lung, breast and ovarian cancer. Whether proven clinically or not, ginger has held an esteemed position in herbal medicine since ancient times. Including ginger in our daily diet is a good way to harness the goodness of nature deliciously.
Which form of ginger do you prefer to use – fresh, dried, powdered or oil?
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