Healthy Food. Food with Function.
Best Ways to Use Ginger
There are many forms and ways you can use ginger to benefit foryourhealth. The most common forms of ginger include:
Raw Ginger — You can put raw sliced ginger (the size of yourthumb)in a smoothie every morning or use it in making homemadevegetablejuice.
Ginger Essential Oil — The most potent form of ginger isgingeressential oil because it contains the highest levels ofgingerol.This is the No. 1 way ginger can be used as medicine. Itcan betaken internally to treat health conditions or rubbedtopicallywith a carrier oil on an area of pain. Typically, two tothreedrops of essential oil is the recommended therapeuticdose.
Ginger Tea — This liquid form of ginger is commonly used torelievenausea, settle the stomach and relax the body. Have one cuptwo tothree times daily to reduce inflammation. Also, adding a bitof rawhoney and lemon to the tea makes it taste great!
Ginger Powder — Using ground ginger powder for cooking isanexcellent way to take advantage of this super spice. I use itinmaking Chicken Curry, homemade pumpkin pie and a gingerberrysmoothie for breakfast. Also, it can be taken in supplementform asa capsule with the recommended dose of 1,000milligramsdaily.
Top 10 Ginger Health Benefits
1. Stroke and Heart Disease
Two of the biggest killers on the planet may be kept at baywithregular ginger use, especially when eaten with otherkeysuperfoods.
2. Indigestion and Nausea
Whether we’re talking about curing a simple tummy ache orseveremorning sickness, ginger has been used for thousands of yearsas aneffective digestive aid and natural remedy for nausea.
Key takeaway: Eating whole ginger, drinking fresh ginger juiceandinhaling diffused ginger essential oil are all highlyeffectiveways to curb stomach disorders.
3. Malabsorption
Proper food transport (and nutrient absorption) from the mouthoutthrough your colon is the mainstay to health. If food getsstucksomewhere in between, it can ferment, rot or (even worse)causeobstruction, which is a life-threatening emergency.
4. Compromised Immunity and Respiratory Function
Ayurvedic medicine has praised ginger’s ability to boost theimmunesystem before recorded history. It believes that becauseginger isso effective at warming the body, it can help break downtheaccumulation of toxins in your organs. It’s also known tocleansethe lymphatic system, our body’s sewage system.
5. Bacterial Infections
The Journal of Microbiology and Antimicrobials published a studyin2011 that tested just how effective ginger is in enhancingimmunefunction. Comparing the ability of ginger to killStaphylococcusaureus and Streptococcus pyogenes with conventionalantibiotics,Nigerian researchers discovered that the naturalsolution won everytime!
The drugs — chloramphenicol, ampicillin and tetracycline —justcouldn’t stand up to the antibacterial prowess of thegingerextract.
6. Fungal Infections
One of the trickier issues to control because they’reincreasinglyresistant to conventional medicine, fungal infectionsdon’t stand achance against ginger. Of the 29 plant speciesevaluated in aCarleton University study, ginger won the prize forhaving theextract most effective at killing fungus.
Key takeaway: For a powerful antifungal punch, mix several dropsofpure ginger essential oil with tea tree oil with one teaspoonofcoconut oil, and apply up to three times a day.
7. Ulcers and GERD
Since the 1980s, researchers have known that ginger can curestomachulcers. More recently, Indian scientists have been able tomoreclosely quantify this medicinal effect.
8. Pain
Ginger is known for its anti-pain property. Very similar tohowcapsaicin works to relieve pain, gingerol acts onvanilloidreceptors, which are located on sensory nerveendings.
10. Diabetes
Gingerols are widely known to naturally improve diabetes andenhanceinsulin sensitivity.