Ginger Benefits. Good to know for great health.
As the cold moves in and the rain is pouring here in Seattle.. I am sipping on some ginger tea.
Ginger is such a wonderful spice. It adds so much flavor, spice, and compliments so many dishes but beyond that the health benefits are abundant. Ginger is one of the very few superfoods actually worthy of the term.
- Ginger has powerful medicinal properties. It belongs to the Zingiberaceae family, and is closely related to turmeric, cardomon and galangal.
- Ginger has a long history of use in various forms of traditional and alternative medicine.
- One of the traditional uses of ginger is for pain relief, including menstrual pain. It has been used to help digestion, reduce nausea, and help fight the flu and common cold, to name a few. It also has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
- Ginger is highly effective against nausea, even in pregnancy-related nausea, such as morning sickness.
- Ginger has been shown to be effective against exercise-induced muscle pain and soreness. It may not have an immediate impact, but is effective at reducing the day-to-day progression of muscle pain. These effects are produced by the anti-inflammatory properties. That same anti- inflammatory effect can assist in osteoarthritis as well.
- Ginger has been shown in studies to lower blood sugar levels and improve cardiac disease risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes. Not only blood sugar, there is evidence, that ginger can lead to reductions in LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
- Ginger also may have protective effects against cancer.
- Studies show that ginger can protect against age-related damage to the brain.
- It is effective against the oral bacteria linked to inflammatory diseases in the gums, such as gingivitis and periodontitis.
