This week it’s ginger health benefits from Kat’s Kitchen. So great for you in so many ways!
Ginger is a perennial herb that has thick tuberous rhizomes, which refers to underground stems and roots. The rhizome is branched with small ‘arms’ which are usually about 5 cm in circumference. A piece of the rhizome is called a ‘hand’. Ginger has a pale yellow interior and a skin varying in colour from brown through to off white.
The taste of ginger is fragrant, pungent and hot. And accordingly to Chinese tradition dried ginger tends to be hotter than its fresh version.
I use a lot of ginger in my cooking and I even add it to my hot water and lemon drink in the morning. It really perks me up! It’s available in soo many forms – dried, powdered, pickled, crystallised. Picked ginger with sushi is a real favourite of mine! Putting a slice of ginger in hot water for tea is also great if you’re looking for a calming tonic.
Ginger has a long tradition in the field of health and below are some reasons to include ginger in your diet:
Ginger Health Benefits
- Promotes relief of digestive stress. It is an excellent carminative which promotes the elimination of intestinal wind and soothes the intestinal tract
- Reduces symptoms associated with motion sickness, whether car, plane, train or boat trips. (This is done by affecting the gastrointestinal tract and slows the feedback loop between the stomach and the nausea centre in the brain
- Can reduce pain associated with osteoarthritis due to gingerols which inhibit the formation of inflammatory cytokines, chemical messengers of the immune system.