Ginger — Southeast Asia’s Secret Ingredient
Growing up, ginger was one of those things that used to scare me when I was younger. I’d watch my parents buy it from the store and wonder why it looked so different on the outside than it did on the inside (how poetic). I used to be kind of scared of its texture, and to make things less easy my family was always talking about, “Oh, be careful! Don’t touch your eyes after touching ginger,” or “Be careful, don’t use too much! Ginger is strong.” As a child this sounded like, “Don’t touch it, you’ll hurt yourself (i.e. die)” or “If you use too much of this.. you’ll die.” Of course, that’s my little dramatic child version of myself thinking that if anything would hurt me or was “too much” I would die lol.
Now that I’ve grown a little and my tastes have matured, I now understand that we had to be careful with ginger because it’s powerful - not scary. Ginger adds a fragrant zest to both sweet and savory foods and was essentially domesticated in Southeast Asia. The pleasantly spicy “kick” from the root of Zingiber officinale, the ginger plant, is what makes ginger ale, ginger tea, candies and many Asian dishes so appealing. It’s also been used for thousands of years for treating numerous ailments and medicinal purposes. Here are some ways that ginger can help us:
BOOST BRAIN FUNCTION: There are a lot of anti-inflammatory properties of ginger that can help your brain. For example, ginger increases serotonin and dopamine levels. This can reduce inflammation, which may cause depression. Ginger could also provide benefits for anxiety, depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.
EASE STOMACH PAIN: Ginger can treat nausea and motion sickness. That’s because the active ingredients in ginger can reach parts of your GI tract that cause stomach issues.
FIGHT INFECTIONS: If you’re fighting food poisoning, gingivitis, a cold or flu, ginger can help get rid of the bacteria in your body that’s causing you trouble.
DECREASE CHOLESTEROL: Ginger may help reduce your LDL cholesterol levels. It triggers a specific enzyme that monitors and controls cholesterol levels by increasing how much cholesterol your body uses.
In the end, it doesn’t matter which way you love this root. It will enhance not only the flavor of your dishes but can treat many forms of illnesses. It can treat nausea, osteoarthritis, reduce heart disease risk factors, and lower blood sugars. It also helps in treating chronic indigestion, lower cholesterol levels, fight infections, and more.
