Ginger (Zingiber officinale): It is a herbaceous tropical perennial belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. It is a flowering plant whose rhizome (underground stems) is known as ginger. There are numerous health benefits of Ginger.
Ginger has a very long history of use in spices, flavoring agents, and medicinal (both modern and traditional). Most of the medicinal uses of ginger are found in Ayurveda. It contains carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins, minerals, natural antibiotics, and many more useful components that our body needs.
Page Index
- Health benefits of Ginger
- 1. Reduces oxidative stress
- 2. Helps in chronic diseases
- 3. Keeps your body warm
- 4. Prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
- 5. Boost immunity
- 6. Pneumonia treatment
- 7. Keep the flu away
- 8. Bile and skin diseases
- 9. Increases appetite
- 10. Relieves joint and arthritis pain
- 11. For Vata dosha
- 12. Used in Syncope
- 13. In fever
- 14. Fighting respiratory disease
- 15. Influenza treatment
- 16. Prevents heart diseases
- 17. Cures migraine
- 18. Helps in osteoarthritis
- 19. Prevents diabetes
- How much ginger is enough?
- Risk factors
- FAQs
- Q. What are the health benefits of honey and ginger tea?
- Q. Is eating raw ginger more beneficial?
- Q. Is drinking ginger water beneficial?
- Q. Is it more beneficial to eat ginger on an empty stomach?
- Q. Can ginger and cumin be taken together?
- Q. Can ginger and honey be taken together?
- Q. Can ginger and jaggery be taken together?
- Related posts:
Vitamins
- Thiamine (B1)
- Riboflavin (B2)
- Niacin (B3)
- Pantothenic acid (B5)
- Vitamin B6
- Folate (B9)
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin E
Minerals
- Calcium
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Manganese
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
- Sodium
Nature
Ginger is hot by nature, it keeps your body warm. In the winter season, adding it to your diet reduces the feeling of coldness.
It is bitter in taste if you take it alone but this can taste better if you add honey or jaggery to it.
Forms of ginger
Ginger is one of the most widely used spices in India which comes in various forms, including fresh, dried (sunthi), pickled, preserved, crystallized, candied, and powdered/ground.
People in India take ginger in their diet and tea. If you want to add ginger to your diet, here are some famous recipes and ways to try:
Recipes
- Ginger can be used to temper the vegetable
- Ginger pickle: You can include in your diet which tastes delicious
- Ginger tea
- Ginger powder can also be consumed
- Cut ginger long and thin, then dry it in the sun by applying salt, pepper, and spices of your choice. Now it is ready to eat anytime.
Used as spices
You can also use ginger as a spice in food. Do you make roasted chicken or mutton? Sprinkle some ginger on it and it will be much better. Use it in sauces as well, just make sure you don’t use too much as it can add bitterness to the taste.
Health benefits of Ginger
Ginger may have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and many other healthful properties. It’s been used to aid digestion, induce appetite, reduce nausea, and help in fighting the flu and the common cold. Below are the top 5 health benefits of ginger.
1. Reduces oxidative stress
Ginger contains gingerol, which is the main bioactive compound found in ginger. Gingerol has the most powerful medicinal properties. Its unique fragrance and flavor come from its natural oils, the most important one is gingerol.
Gingerol has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, found in research. Antioxidants are compounds that prevent stress and damage to your body’s DNA.
For instance, it may help reduce oxidative stress, which is the result of having an excess amount of free radicals in the body.
2. Helps in chronic diseases
They may help your body fight off chronic diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, and diseases of the lungs, plus promote healthy aging.
3. Keeps your body warm
Ginger keeps your body warm during the winter season. For this, you can take it in any form but it is more beneficial when you take it with Jaggery.
4. Prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia
Alzheimer’s is a neurological disorder related to the brain, in which the problem of forgetting is seen in old age people. Using ginger can help in controlling the growing effect of this problem to a great extent.
Research suggests that ginger contains several phytochemicals, such as gingerols, shogaols, and zingerone, which may help in preventing the natural damage of neurons that carry messages to the brain.
This can give you relief to a great extent in the problem of Alzheimer’s. On this basis, it can be assumed that using ginger can help in controlling the effects of Alzheimer’s to some extent.
Ginger may also improve brain functions and help in dementia.
5. Boost immunity
Consuming ginger can also help in maintaining your body’s immunity. This is confirmed by research conducted by the International Journal of Preventive Medicine.
According to this research, it is found that ginger has antioxidant (destroying free radicals) and anti-inflammatory (reducing inflammation) properties. In addition, it also has immunonutrition properties. That is, it can also prove to be helpful in promoting immunity. For this, you can use ginger powder in tea or decoction.
6. Pneumonia treatment
Mix 1 or 2-year-old ghee and camphor in 5 ml ginger juice and massage it on the chest. This will help in getting rid of Pneumonia.
7. Keep the flu away
We have already mentioned that drinking ginger tea strengthens your immune system. In such a situation, consuming ginger can be a lifesaver during the flu season. If you want to avoid this disease, then start using ginger, even if you drink ginger tea.
8. Bile and skin diseases
- Drinking 5 ml ginger juice mixed with jaggery is beneficial in the diseases related to bile.
- Mixing 10-12 grams old jaggery in 25 ml ginger juice daily and drinking it cures skin diseases like bile spurts.
9. Increases appetite
- Mix an equal quantity of dry ginger powder in 1 gram of yavakshara. Add double the ghee to it then consume it. This will help you increasing appetite.
- Take 2 grams of dry ginger powder with lukewarm water every morning. This also removes the lack of appetite.
- Eating 2 grams of dry ginger powder with ghee or only dry ginger powder with hot water every morning increases appetite.
- Eating salt and ginger chutney at the beginning of every meal cures tongue and throat disorders. By using it your appetite increases and also your heart becomes strong.
- Eating ginger pickles increases appetite.
- Take carom seeds, fenugreek, myrobalan, and dry ginger powders in equal quantity. Taking 2-4 grams a day may relives pain and also increases appetite.
10. Relieves joint and arthritis pain
- Add 500 ml of sesame oil to one liter of ginger juice and cook it on fire. When water evaporates, only oil remains, take it off and filter it. Massaging this oil on the body cures joint pain.
- Grind dry ginger, sesame, and jaggery in equal quantity. Drink it in the amount of 2-4 grams with 50-100 ml milk. With this, the pain of arthritis starts curing and will completely cured in 3-7 days.
- Make a decoction of dry ginger and castor root. Mix 125 mg asafetida and 1 gram Sauvarchal salt in 10-20 ml decoction and take, it cures arthritis pain.
11. For Vata dosha
- Make a decoction of pippali and dry ginger and take 20 ml in the morning and evening, it cures gout.
- Drink an equal quantity of ginger juice, matulung juice, chukra, and jaggery mixed with ghee or oil. It cures back pain, flatulence, sciatica, and intestinal diseases.
- Mix ginger juice or matung juice in oil and ghee and drink after giving the projection of chukra and jaggery. It cures back pain, flatulence, sciatica, and intestinal diseases.
12. Used in Syncope
Mix ginger and jaggery in equal quantity and eat it with Triphala powder every morning for 7 days. Along with this, take Triphala with honey at night. Along with this follow the diet. It is beneficial in diseases like lethargy, fainting, jaundice, and mania.
13. In fever
- Giving ginger juice (1-2 drops) through the nose ends fainting in fever.
- Cook dry ginger, absinthe, nutgrass, and cordifolia (Guduchi) and consume 5 grams each. It cures fever, excessive thirst, and loss of appetite.
14. Fighting respiratory disease
Ginger provides many health benefits related to our lungs. Because of its anti-inflammatory qualities, ginger causes bronchodilation in asthmatic patients which helps in getting rid of asthma attacks.
Research and studies on various animals including humans have demonstrated the bronchodilatory effects of ginger. Ginger also breaks down the thick mucus and helps to expel out the mucus.
Ginger efficiently reduced lung damage and protected the lungs from severe damage due to hyperoxia and inflammation.
- Mix honey in 2 spoons of ginger juice and take it in the morning and evening. It is beneficial in respiratory diseases.
- Asthma and respiratory diseases are cured by taking one gram of ginger juice with one spoon of water in the morning and evening.
- All types of respiratory diseases, cough, cold, and anorexia are cured by eating ginger juice mixed with honey.
- Mix musk in ginger juice and take, it cures respiratory diseases.
- Make a powder by grinding long pepper (Piper longum), rock salt and mixing ginger juice in it, and consuming it at bedtime. It cures asthma, cough, and phlegm.
- Mixing 6 grams of ginger juice and 6 grams of honey in the ashes of about 1 gram of zinc, giving it to the patient ends asthma and cough.
- Taking ginger juice with honey cures old age asthma.
15. Influenza treatment
Mix 6 grams of honey in 6 ml ginger juice and take it 3-4 times a day. It cures influenza disease.
16. Prevents heart diseases
Ginger works as a blood-thinning agent by lowering cholesterol levels, Which helps control blood pressure and prevent heart attack.
In a study, it is found that people who took ginger pills daily saw decreased levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol level, and bad cholesterol (known as low-density lipoprotein or LDL) after 45 days, as compared to people who were given a placebo. However, more research is needed to definitively say that you can take ginger to lower cholesterol.
17. Cures migraine
Have you ever experienced a headache so strong that no medicine can help? It’s a migraine, ginger makes you feel better in migraine problems.
Ginger has analgesic properties. This pain-relieving property is helpful in the problem of migraine. In research, it is believed that ginger juice can work to control the acute pain of migraine and provide relief. In such a situation, it can be said that the consumption of ginger can prove beneficial for migraine sufferers.
18. Helps in osteoarthritis
Taking ginger can reduce pain in some people related to osteoarthritis.
19. Prevents diabetes
Nowadays diabetes is not limited to a specific group of people and age, today it becomes a lifestyle disease. What if you can prevent it by just adding a delicious spice to your diet.
Ginger can help prevent diabetes and also help people who already have diabetes. If you take ginger with balance in the diet, then it will definitely prove to be effective.
Research done on ginger by the Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research has found ginger to be effective in patients with diabetes. It is found in research that along with controlling the amount of increased blood sugar, it can also work to increase the activity of insulin.
How much ginger is enough?
It has often been seen that people use ginger to make a strong taste of tea and tasty food. If the weather is cold, then its use increases even more.
Everyone likes to drink ginger tea in winter, but do you know that excessive consumption of ginger tea can be harmful to the body.
Health specialists and nutritionists recommend eating ginger only up to 5 grams, so proper quantity is safe and beneficial for your health.
It is safe to take it every day but not more than 5 grams a day. A person should consume only 5 grams of ginger in a whole day because consuming more than this can have a negative effect on your health.
If you like to drink ginger tea, then half a teaspoon of ginger is enough in a cup of tea. Consuming ginger in excess of this can reduce the level of blood sugar and can also cause problems like burning in the stomach.
Risk factors
If you also take ginger daily, then be cautious because taking ginger in higher doses than the daily intake limit may cause various complications and increase the risk of side effects.
According to doctors, excessive consumption of ginger can cause problems like
- Reduces blood sugar level
- Heartburn
- Acidity
- Gas
- Bleeding disorder like heavy bleeding during periods
- Gall stones
- Eye irritation
- High blood pressure (BP)
- Insomnia (less sleep)
Its consumption in low BP is harmful to health, ginger also has the property of thinning the blood.
FAQs
Q. What are the health benefits of honey and ginger tea?
Q. Is eating raw ginger more beneficial?
Q. Is drinking ginger water beneficial?
Q. Is it more beneficial to eat ginger on an empty stomach?
Q. Can ginger and cumin be taken together?
Q. Can ginger and honey be taken together?
Q. Can ginger and jaggery be taken together?
References:
- Gastroprotective effects of ginger
- Anti-Oxidative and anti-Inflammatory effects of ginger
- Prevents lungs related disorders
- Effects of ginger on cholesterol level
- Effects of taking ginger in patients with diabetes