Ginger has multiple benefits — and it tastes delicious. It’s a snap to integrate into various soups and sauces, delivering you the wellness perks while tickling your taste buds. Here are five reasons you need to eat more ginger and how to incorporate this herb into your daily diet.
It’s Loaded With Antioxidants
Antioxidants perform a host of beneficial activities in the human body. Ginger is one of the most antioxidant-rich foods out there, with rich reserves of gingerol, shogaols and paradols with proven cancer-prevention properties.
This flavorful herb lends an exotic, slightly sweet and tangy flavor to various dishes. For example, this simple ginger sauce lends a rich depth to egg custards and makes an interesting dipping side for spring rolls. Add it to your recipe book — it’s one way to get more ginger in your diet.
Why are antioxidants so beneficial? They help cleanse dangerous free radicals from your body before they can swipe electrons from your cells, causing damage. In doing so, they reduce your cancer risk and that of various chronic diseases, like heart disease. It can even help prevent premature aging by protecting your skin.
It Boosts Immunity
Society has found ways to live with COVID-19 through vaccines. However, health officials warn that climate change could increase the frequency of similar pandemics, posing a considerable risk to public health.
While dietary changes alone won’t protect you from unusual germs against which you have no resistance, you can improve your body’s natural ability to fight such invaders. Ginger is one of the best weapons to add to your arsenal. Research indicates that it can boost immunity and even improve the response of mice with autoimmune disorders.
Fortunately, ginger tastes every bit as delightful as part of a beverage as it does baked into your favorite dishes. You can mix up a simple ginger juice and ginger shots with little more than lemon juice, ginger, water and the sweetener of your choice. Your kids will love them, too — give them a shot of health before they leave to brave the schoolyard germs each morning.
It Calms Inflammation
Ginger is one of the most potent anti-inflammatory herbs out there. A systematic review of available evidence shows that this herb reduces the levels of multiple inflammatory biomarkers, including tumor necrosis factor, IL-6, prostaglandin E2 and MDA. Furthermore, it increased gene expression in rheumatoid arthritis patients, improving outcomes.
Topical creams often contain capsaicin. However, some research suggests that using a ginger-infused patch could ease the symptoms of lower back pain, a condition plaguing countless people each year.
Does chronic, low-grade inflammation leave you feeling miserable? Try adding a bit of ginger to your morning coffee or tea. You can add it along with turmeric and black pepper to increase the anti-inflammatory effects, lending lovely chai notes to your brew while easing pain throughout your day.
It Helps Control Your Blood Sugar
Millions of Americans have diabetes or a prediabetic condition, putting them at a higher risk of heart and kidney disease. Getting your blood sugar under control requires dietary modifications, including reducing or eliminating foods that cause spikes. Added sweeteners and white flour are the biggest culprits contributing to insulin resistance.
However, you can also improve your glucose levels by incorporating more foods known for their mitigating effects. Fiber is one, slowing the absorption of food and preventing spikes. Herbs like ginger and cinnamon also regulate your blood sugar.
Fortunately, you can increase your intake and enjoy a delicious dessert by getting a bit creative in the kitchen. Why not try whipping up ginger snaps that substitute chickpea flour for the troublesome white stuff? You’ll get more fiber and feel better about letting your little one sneak a cookie before dinner.
It Aids Digestion
When you were little, your childhood caregivers might have suggested flat ginger ale to treat a tummy ache. While they were on the right track, many commercial brands contain no genuine ginger — or at least not enough to provide health benefits. However, a tea, juice or shot brewed from the root has decided calming effects.
Ginger may work better than mint for people with GERD. Mints treat tummy trouble by relaxing the muscles associated with digestion. Unfortunately, this action can increase the backflow of stomach acid into the esophagus, worsening symptoms. Ginger tames stomach trouble through different mechanisms.
Your best bet for treating a sour stomach may be simply chewing a piece of the root. Ginger has a slightly earthy, exotic flavor that most people don’t find unpleasant in the raw, and it won’t hurt you if you accidentally swallow a chunk. Otherwise, the mixture of the herb with your saliva should make you feel better reasonably quickly.
Reasons You Need to Eat More Ginger
Ginger is one of the most useful herbs out there. It possesses impressive anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that benefit human health.
Consider the above five reasons you need to eat more ginger. Then, get creative in the kitchen and whip up some recipes to improve your family’s health.
About The Author
Ava Roman (she/her) is the Managing Editor of Revivalist, a women’s lifestyle magazine that empowers women to live their most authentic life. When Ava is not writing you’ll find her in a yoga class, advocating for body positivity, whipping up something delicious in the kitchen, or smashing the patriarchy.