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Friday, April 1, 2011

Self-Care Zingiber Officinale (Ginger!)

Zingiber Officinale, which we know as “ginger,” is one of about 1,400 plants in the Zingberacea family right along with turmeric and cardamom. Cultivated for thousands of years in China and India, ginger reached the West some 2,000 years ago. It was recorded as a Roman tax in the 2nd century, and tariff duties appear in the records of Marseilles in the year 1228, and in those of Paris by the year 1296. Before the Norman Conquest of England sometime in the 13th century, ginger was second only to pepper in popularity.

A pound of ginger was then valued at the priced of one sheep.

Today we import ginger from countries like China, Africa, Central American, Brazil and Australia, and there is gorgeous organic ginger grown in the state of Hawaii too.

Ginger is used medicinally in the Orient and considered a warming remedy for cold hands and feet, chills, weakness, poor digestion, nausea, and weak circulation. It’s considered critical in the fight against colds, mucus, coughs, and bronchial infections. In fact, ginger appears in more than half of all Chinese herbal prescriptions. It’s used when the weather is cold and damp, and to prevent and treat viral infections.

In this country, the best known use of ginger is as a digestive aid. Herbalists describe ginger as a “stimulating carminative,” which soothes the stomach, relieves gas, eases cramps, and generally encourages normal digestion and absorption. Ginger tea is said to reduce gastric secretions and help inhibit gastric ulcers. Some use ginger as a food preservative because it has been shown to have potent anti-microbial qualities.

Japanese researchers say that ginger has a tonic effect on the heart and may lower cholesterol levels by reducing cholesterol absorption in the blood and liver.

Back to ginger and nausea – in 1985, in a small study, seasick US cadets were given seasickness pills, some of which contained powdered ginger while others contained a placebo. Ginger cut the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and cold sweats in half compared to the placebo. Since then, other studies have found that powdered ginger root works better than Dramamine in preventing or treating motion sickness.

All forms of ginger (drunk as tea, eaten by the spoonful when grated into honey, capsules and tablets) have been shown to be effective for morning sickness. An old clinical trial in The European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reported that women with the most severe kind of morning sickness, termed “hyperemesis gravidarum,” in which women took one gram of powdered ginger per day, had symptoms either greatly reduced or eliminated altogether.

In another study, patients as St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, were given ginger to prevent post-operative nausea and vomiting, and it worked.

Since ginger (like onions and garlic) thins the blood, taking it with synthetic oral anti-coagulants such as warfarin (coumadin) could be problematic, but I wonder whether it could be used in their stead? That’s a study somebody should undertake, don’t you think?

Topically, adding 5-10 drops of the essential oil of ginger to cup or so of any good cold-processed oil such as almond or coconut and then rubbing it onto the affected area can alleviate the pain of lumbago and rheumatism. Someone I know added a few drops of juniper and eucalyptus oils in addition to the ginger oil, and said that she received great, temporary relief. Since this mixture is strong, know your threshold of “pain” to a warming sensation. You might want to use less ginger oil.

Ginger (taken internally) is said to help detox when you’re fasting. It’s also said to help aid in weight loss. While it may get the circulation going, and that’s certainly helpful, I’m convinced the only true way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories and walk more!

My mother used to put a 2” piece of ginger in her vegetable juicer each day. She liked the zing it gave her carrot and veggie juice and said she could feel her whole body warming up and perking along.

Ginger is definitely a part of my arsenal if I’m feeling under the weather. I grate ½ teaspoon fresh ginger into a cup and pour over it boiling water (or make a whole tea pot-full all at once by using ½ teaspoon of ginger per cup of water). Allow the ginger to steep in the water for at least 10-15 minutes (I have to admit that I just let the ginger sit in the kettle and never remove it until I’ve drunk the whole pot). Sip the ginger tea throughout the day. Alternatively, one can grate ginger into raw, organic honey and take by the spoonful.

When I travel (planes, especially, have become germ incubators), I always take a piece of fresh ginger in a little baggie in my purse. When the guy next to me starts coughing, or when I feel somebody acting like a Typhoid Mary begins to cozy up, I nibble on that piece of ginger.

If you just want to make ginger a part of your life, ginger tea bags are the easiest. A sprinkle of ginger powder or chopped fresh ginger in dishes can make them come alive too. There's pickled sushi ginger and crystallized ginger, which does taste great, but which has sugar (do take that into account). Of course there are ginger capsules and tablets too.

Introduce ginger to your system gradually if you’re not used to it. Like anything new, too much of any good thing can be a shock to your system.

And like anything fresh, ginger can spoil. To avoid wasting my fresh ginger, I store it in a baggie in the freezer. When I want some, I take the baggie out of the freezer and allow the ginger to thaw just enough to chop or grate some off. Do I peel my ginger? Who has time? And, of course, I buy organic ginger so I don’t want to waste all those nutrients in the skin. When I’ve used what I want, I simply throw the baggie with the remainder of the ginger back into the freezer.

Let me leave you with this. There’s an ancient Druid formula using ginger which is said to help in the bedroom. Mix 1-2 cups warm milk with ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and 4 tablespoons of raw honey. This pick-me-upper is said to work if you and yours drink it before bed. If you like things spicy, feel free to add more ginger.

Self-Care 2011. Debra is the owner of Debra’s Natural Gourmet in Concord, and a resident of Acton.

1 comment:

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