Health Benefits Of Ginger: Ginger as a flowering plant originated from the South East of Asia. It is considered among the most delicious, and healthiest spices on this planet, Earth.
Coming from the Zingiberaceae family, ginger is related to turmeric, cardamom, and galangal. The underground part of the stem is what we call rhizome, and it is what is commonly used as the spice. Generally, it’s simply called ginger or ginger root.
Ginger, is a very common and one of the cheapest ingredients in recipes in the world. It is sometimes added to processed foods and cosmetics. Ginger can be used as fresh, dried, powdered, or even in oil or juice.
Below are the health benefits of Ginger, which have been proven by scientific research.
1. Ginger can treat many forms of nausea, especially morning sickness:
Ginger is an effective way to treat nausea. It helps relieve nausea and vomiting, for people who have undergone surgery. Based on a lot of studies, ginger may also help chemotherapy-related nauseous.
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Morning sickness, a disease among pregnant women, can also be treated with the help of ginger. A review of numerous studies also shows that a total of 1,278 pregnant women, can reduce the symptoms of nausea when they take 1.1 to 1.5 grams of ginger.
Avoid ginger if you are pregnant, and close to labor or if you had experience a miscarriage.
2. Ginger contains gingerol, which has powerful medicinal properties:
Gingerol is the main bioactive compound found in ginger, which is responsible for all the tremendous works, and medicinal properties ginger possesses.
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Ginger is used in aiding digestion, reducing nausea, and also helping fight flu and the common cold.
Ginger has some natural fragrance and flavor, which comes from its natural oils, of which gingerol is the most valuable among them. It also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, which help reduce oxidative stress.
3. Ginger can help with Osteoarthritis:
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a health problem, which involves the degeneration of the joints in the body, resulting in symptoms such as joint pain and stiffness.
It was revealed that, people that use ginger in treating their Osteoarthritis, experience a significant reduction in pain and disability.
A study has shown that, when a combination of topical ginger, mastic, cinnamon, and sesame oil is used, it reduces the pain and stiffness in people with Osteoarthritis of the knee.
4. Ginger may drastically lower blood sugars and improve heart disease risk factors:
Ginger possesses anti-diabetic properties. People with type 2 diabetes, also lower their blood sugar levels when they take in ginger.
It also improves hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), which is a marker for long-term blood sugar levels in the body. However, it is good to remember that ginger has no effect on fasting blood sugar.
5. Ginger can help treat chronic indigestion:
There is the belief that delay in the emptying of the stomach causes indigestion. People with chronic indigestion, experience recurrent pain, and discomfort in the upper part of the stomach.
With ginger, you can speed up emptying the stomach. Functional dyspepsia, which happens to be indigestion with no known cause, is treated with ginger or sometimes a placebo in small amounts.
6. Ginger may significantly reduce menstrual pain:
One of the common uses of ginger is to relieve pain and menstrual pain isn’t out of this. Pain felt during the menstrual cycle, is what we call Dysmenorrhea.
Most studies have shown that ginger is more effective than any placebo, and drugs such as mefenamic acid, and caffeine, among others.
In 2009, a study was conducted. During that time, some women were ordered to take either ginger or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, (NSAID), for the first 3 days of their menstrual period. At the end of the study, it was observed that ginger managed to reduce the pain the same as the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs too.
7. Ginger may help with weight loss:
According to research, ginger plays a vital role in weight loss, in both humans and animals. Ginger could also help reduce body mass index (BMI), and blood insulin levels, in women with obesity, since high blood insulin levels are associated with obesity.
There are certain mechanisms that are responsible for ginger’s ability, to influence weight loss. Those mechanisms include its potential to help in increasing the number of calories burned or reduce inflammation.
8. Ginger contains a substance that may help prevent cancer:
This plant has been linked to many forms of cancer, and some also say it’s the remedy for several forms of cancer.
Gingerol has a lot of anti-cancer properties, which are found in large quantities in raw ginger. Ginger is effective against breast cancer, and ovarian cancer but more research is needed.
Colorectal cancer, is also prevented using ginger. Ginger is again used in reducing pro-inflammatory signaling molecules in the colon.
There is also evidence that claims ginger can be effective against other gastrointestinal cancers, such as pancreatic cancer and liver cancer.
9. Ginger can help fight infections:
Gingerol in ginger can help in lowering the risk of infections. Extracts from ginger can help inhibit the growth of many different types of bacteria.
Based on studies conducted in 2008, ginger is very effective against oral bacteria, which has been connected to gingivitis and periodontitis which are both classified as inflammatory gum diseases.
Fresh ginger helps fight against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is a common cause of respiratory infections.
10. Ginger helps lower cholesterol levels:
The high levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol in the body, can be channeled to an increased risk of heart disease.
The foods we take in, are sometimes the causes of such LDL levels. There is strong evidence that ginger can lead to a tremendous reduction in LDL (bad) cholesterol, total cholesterol, and blood triglyceride levels, in the human and also animal bodies.
Ginger is one of the very few foods that are loaded with nutrients and bioactive compounds that have powerful add-ons to give your body and your soul. Always consider ginger in every aspect of your life, to see the improvements in your health and well-being.