Without ginger, Asian food wouldn't have the same zing, but the benefits of this aromatic rhizome don't stop at the taste buds. Ancient but still widely practiced Asian and Middle Eastern healing traditions use ginger to treat nausea, circulatory problems, colds, flu and and other ailments. As modern medicine is discovering, the herbalists are right about ginger's health properties.
Flavoring for Food and Beverages
Despite the regional diversity of Asian cuisine, the dominance of ginger as a primary flavoring crosses all borders. Throughout South Asia, a wide variety of blended herbs and spices, or "masalas," go into sauces, and many start with pastes made of ginger, onions and garlic. After the paste is fried, spices and other ingredients are added one at at time. Ginger also is featured in spiced tea, or chai masala, and in many pre-prepared spice blends. In China, ginger, scallions and garlic are the three main flavorings for stir-fried dishes, and pickled ginger is a popular condiment throughout Asia.
Quells Digestive Upsets
For thousands of years, traditional Indian, East Asian and Persian-Arabic healing traditions have used ginger as a remedy for nausea, diarrhea, stomach upsets, flatulence, and to prevent or eliminate intestinal parasites. According to a classification system known by different names but consistent throughout Asia and the Middle East, foods have intrinsic "hot," "cold" or "neutral" properties. Since illness is caused by energy imbalances in the body, foods may be used to help return it to equilibrium. As a potent "hot" or "warming" food, ginger is believed to stimulate the metabolism, thereby helping the body fight digestive disorders. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, scientific studies into the health benefits of ginger have confirmed its value as an effective remedy for nausea and motion sickness.
Improves Circulation
Traditional Asian medicine holds that ginger improves blood circulation by stimulating the heart, and the University of Maryland Medical Center points to Western scientific studies suggesting the same thing, using different language. Even in small quantities, ginger's active ingredients, volatile oils and "pungent phenol compounds" help reduce cholesterol and protect blood vessels from the plaque buildup that can cause heart attacks and strokes. Ginger is also rich in potassium, magnesium, copper, manganese and vitamin B-6, all essential to the health of the heart, vascular and central nervous systems.
Reduces Symptoms of Cold and Flu
Traditional practices use ginger, usually in the form of hot tea, to combat ailments associated with cold weather, such as colds and flu. A "hot" substance steeped in hot water has double the ability to trigger healthy perspiration, herbalists believe, helping to rid the body of toxins. Modern medical knowledge suggests they may be right -- but perhaps not for the reasons they suppose. Both ginger and hot beverages indeed stimulate perspiration, coating the skin in dermicidin, a powerful antimicrobial agent released in sweat. This creates a layer of protection against invasion by disease-causing microorganisms that can take hold more easily if the immune system is weakened, thereby allowing the healing process to continue without opening up a new front.
Member Comments