Inside the pungent healer
With Asian origins, ginger is very present in about every cuisine around the world. “Studies show that African and Indian grown are more potent than the common Jamaican kind.” says Stephen Fulder, Ph.D, a private research consultant and author of “The Ginger Book”. How can you tell the difference? You can’t! Ask your grocer which variety they carry. The key ingredient carrying ginger’s therapeutic properties is gingerol contained in its resin. This essential oil (gingerol) is responsible for ginger’s hot and spicy qualities and stimulating effects.
Ginger has a high mineral content of magnesium, manganese, potassium, and silicon, and other vitamins in the likes of vitamins B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), and B9 (folic acid). However, it is the stimulating effects it creates in the body that has earned it a reputation as “the pungent healer”. This stimulating quality makes ginger very effective in the treatment of malaria and fevers. It has been found to lower serum cholesterol levels, therefore assisting circulatory improvement. Ginger applies strong stimulating effects on muscular contractions of the heart, and significantly reduces platelet aggregation (the tendency of blood cells to stick together or clot- which may help in preventing heart attacks).
As it creates this stimulating effect, ginger has been shown to support circulation and warmth all over the body. Thus, the reason for its use as a caffeine substitute. Try ginger tea to beat the morning blues or the bushman’s rise and shine shake to stay alert all morning.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), ginger is known to direct its warming properties toward lower extremities like the colon, kidneys, legs, and reproductive organs. For this reason, it is often used as an aphrodisiac, and for the treatment of amenorrhea, menorrhagia, and menstrual cramps. Some herbalists have had bristling success in using ginger for the treatment of ‘cold poisoning’ due to the warmth it generates in the body. Its indubitable warming ability has earned ginger a place in West African speech: meaning to stimulate someone or something into action. Ex. The sales leader gingered his team during the lunch break. 2. To be excited or enthused about something or someone. Ex. He does not seemed gingered about his new job. 3. Warm. As in emotional content. Ex. The athletes met a well deserved ginger welcome when they returned home.