Benefits of Ginger

Ginger can boast many health-giving benefits.

Ginger is possibly most renowned for its ability to sooth a stomach and ease nausea – caused either from motion sickness, morning sickness, flu or food poisoning. You can just cut up some fresh ginger root and pop it into a pot or cup of boiling water to steep – and the resulting tea has been proven to be just as effective a remedy for nausea, as vitamin B6. Similarly, this tea, from fresh ginger, has also long been used to stimulate and aid digestion and ease heartburn.

In both ancient and modern Western medicine ginger has been accredited with medicinal properties. In traditional Chinese medicine, ginger tea with brown sugar is used to treat period pains and cramps. A study conducted at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Centre found that ginger in a powder form induced the death of all ovarian cancer cells to which it was applied. Another study at the University of Minnesota found that ginger might slow the growth of colorectal cancer cells.

Gingers anti-inflammatory properties make it a powerful and natural painkiller. Experimental research has shown that ginger may offer migraine relief due to its ability to stop prostaglandins from causing pain and inflammation in blood vessels. These anti-inflammatory properties have also seen it used as a way to ease the symptoms of arthritis. Ginger is also widely cited as a preventative medicine – with a regular daily intake serving to make the common cold less common. However, if you do come down with a cold – ginger can help, as it is a good expectorant, removing mucus from the throat and lungs.

Ginger can be taken as a fresh tea, a ground dry spice, freshly minced in food, combined with vegetables and fruit and put through a juicer to make a delicious juice or even dried candied cubes.

Written by Vanessa