Ginger Root - Benefits of Ginger

Ginger root refers to the edible part of the ginger plant. This is actually the horizontal subterranean stem or rhizome of the plant. Ginger is a monocotyledonous perennial plant having the biological name as Zingiber officinale. Basically, ginger is found as a thick, beige and knotted underground stem. The stem above the ground is about 12 inches long and has long, narrow, ribbed, green leaves as well as white or yellowish-green flowers. Ginger root contains volatile oils and pungent phenol compounds like shogaols and gingerols. One ideology states that it has originated in China and then spread to India, southeast Asia, West Africa and the Caribbean islands. This plant prospers in fertile, moist and tropical soil.

Ingestion of Ginger root
Children less than 2 years of age should not be given ginger. For those exceeding 2 years, it is given to treat headaches, nausea and digestive cramping. The herbal dosage of ginger for adults are recommended for a 150 lb i.e. 70 kg adult. So, if a child weighs 75 lb i.e. 35 kg, the correct dose would be ½ of the adult dosage.

For adults, a maximum of 4 grams of ginger input is prescribed. To decrease arthritis pain, extract or fresh ginger juice or tea, 2 to 4 grams must be taken daily. For nausea, indigestion or gas, fresh root, 2 to 4 grams or liquid extract 1.5 to 3.0 ml, have to be taken daily. To relieve cold, flu, sore throat, headache or menstrual cramps, 2 tablespoons of freshly shredded ginger must be steeped in hot water, twice or thrice daily. To stop vomiting, 1 gram of powdered ginger every 4 hours with a maximum of 4 times daily are prescribed.

Benefits of Ginger
Ginger has found used in medical and culinary areas and some local routines.

Medical benefits

• 1 gram of ginger taken daily is very effective to reduce the pregnancy-associated nausea and vomiting if used for a maximum of 4 days
• a ginger extract taken twice daily, decreased the pain and the need of pain-killing pills for patients of osteoarthritis
• may reduce motion sickness without side effects like dry mouth and drowsiness
• useful for dyspepsia and colic
• useful to hide the taste of other medicines
• heartburn and gas can be treated with ginger
• production of saliva and digestive enzyme amylase is increased to help in digestion
• decreases pus in infected wounds and boils

Culinary benefits

• Green ginger wine is produced in the United Kingdom
• Liquor flavored using ginger is produced in France
• Ginger candy is used as a flavoring for cake, cookies, crackers and ginger ale i.e.non-alcoholic beverage
• In India, it is used to spice tea, in some food preparations for expecting and feeding mothers, as a spice in pulse and lentil curries and to prepare fresh pickle after mixing with lemon juice, salt as well as tender green chillies
• young ginger rhizomes are stewed in boiling water and mixed with some honey as a sweetener to make ginger tea. To this, lemon fruit or sliced orange may also be added
• old ginger root juice is used as a spice in Chinese dishes like seafood and mutton
• in the western world, ginger ale, ginger snaps, ginger biscuits, gingerbread and ginger cake are the different products
• is used in a salad dish called gyin-tho in Myanmar
• ginger is pickled to prepare gari or beni shoga and used raw on noodles and tofu in Japan
• in Korean Kimchi, ginger is minced finely and added to the spicy paste before fermentation
• a beverage called Wedang Jahe made from ginger and palm sugar is famous in Indonesia
• ginger powder is used as a spice for coffee in parts of the Middle East

Local benefits

• in the western world, dried ginger root in powdered form is sold as capsules
• in the United States, ginger is approved as safe by the FDA and sold as unregulated dietary supplement
• in India, ginger is used to overcome cold and headache
• in China, sliced ginger cooked in sweetened water is considered a medicine for cold
• in Ivory Coast, ground ginger blended with orange, lemon and pineapple results in a refreshing juice termed Nyamanku
• in Myanmar, ginger is boiled with Htan nyat, made from palm tree juice, to overcome flu
• in Indonesia, Jahe is the ginger preparation used to decrease fatigue, cure rheumatism and control poor dietary habits
• in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, crushed ginger is mixed with mango-tree sap to prepare Tangawisi juice