When it comes to ginger, many people think of Far Eastern dishes with exotic spices. Whether fresh or as a powder: ginger is very healthy, the miracle root has a great effect.
Ginger comes from the Far East. Where exactly? You don’t know anymore today. Its root (popularly known as “tuber”, scientifically correct “rhizome”) is very popular because of its unmistakable aroma and its positive health effects.
ginger is therefore healthy and it is impossible to imagine Asian cuisine without it. It is most commonly grown in India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan, but now also in Australia, Nigeria and France.
What forms is ginger available in?
The fresh one ginger is now available in every supermarket on the fruit or vegetable shelf. You can just as easily plant ginger yourself. You can also buy it ground as a spice, and ginger capsules are available from the pharmacy. Ginger juice, candied ginger or ginger pickled in syrup or vinegar are less common.
The pieces in syrup are considered a healthy specialty in China. There are also ginger plums, ginger nuts and other delicacies there. Pickled pieces are popular in Japan. Typically the so-called gari is consumed with sushi. Not only in Great Britain people like to drink ginger ale or ginger beer.
The effect: why is ginger so healthy?
The effect is positive, Side effects of ginger Little known: Contains spices and remedies healthy essential oils, Gingerol, resin and resin acids.
The tuber is also rich in vitamin C. and also contains Magnesium, iron, calcium, Potassium, sodium and phosphorus. The rhizome has an antibacterial effect and can thus contribute to a healthy intestinal flora.
So the tuber definitely keeps you healthy. It has a virus-static effect, i.e. it inhibits the multiplication of viruses. It is also antiemetic, which means that it prevents vomiting. Therefore, a little ginger should definitely be in the bag on long trips.
The hot substances it contains also stimulate blood circulation and circulation, both of which are usually also healthy. In addition, ginger promotes digestion and increases gastric juice, saliva and bile production.
Lose weight healthily with ginger?
Ginger is stimulates the metabolism, promotes fat digestion and gastric acid production. These are good properties for a diet. Allegedly, subjects who drink a glass of ginger water with their meals also eat less than others. At least that is what some studies claim.
There are correspondingly many diets with ginger – but the plant alone does not make you slim. Diet guides recommend a daily intake of around two grams, but that alone does not dissolve a hundred grams of chocolate in thin air.
Nevertheless, the plant can support a diet and partially compensate for the loss of important minerals. More information on weight loss, low-carb diet, therapeutic fasting trend, ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting and juice fasting can be found in the articles.
Ginger during pregnancy – (not) a good idea?
Ginger generally helps against nausea and vomiting. But there is no definite knowledge as to whether this is also the case during pregnancy. Still, some ginger might be a good idea in the early stages. But opinions differ about what comes next.
Some believe that too much ginger can cause early contractions, among other things because it stimulates blood circulation. Traditional Chinese medicine, on the other hand, sees no problem with taking it during pregnancy. If you want to be on the safe side, do without the yellow root in late pregnancy.
Ginger recipes
Whether cooked with meat or fish, as a spice for vegetables, curries or rice, or grated raw in muesli: the healthy ginger goes well with almost everything.
The following simple recipes will help you to get your daily ration: ginger tea, ginger water, ginger lemonade, ginger oil and ginger stock – or you can try eating ginger raw.
How to properly peel ginger
If it Organic ginger you can leave the bowl on for the following recipes. But what if it is not wanted? If you peel the rhizome with a knife, there is often a lot of section left over.
Fortunately, there is a trick: Here we tell you how you can easily peel ginger without a knife.
The miracle tuber as a warm drink: prevents colds
Make ginger tea yourself is very simple and the drink is wonderfully beneficial in the cold season or with colds. But it’s also good to drink in summer, if necessary as an iced tea with lots of crushed ice.
- For 250 milliliters, cut a piece as thick as your thumb from the tuber or rhizome into fine cubes and put them in a tea strainer. It can make sense to peel the ginger beforehand.
- Then pour boiling water over it and let it steep for fifteen to twenty minutes.
- You can also infuse the pieces of ginger with green or black tea or flavor the drink with garlic, mint, lemongrass, thyme, honey, sugar or lemon.
The combination of garlic and ginger is particularly healthy. In addition, the latter neutralizes the taste and smell of garlic, so you can still go out after this tea.
Or: You prepare the tuber together with turmeric as a Golden milk to.
Ginger water, the thirst quencher
Ginger water is prepared like ginger tea. Typically, however, you do not add any other flavors (such as with tea) and usually drink it at room temperature. Ginger water is also suitable as a water substitute at work, at school or during sports. So you have a simple and inexpensive drink that is a welcome and healthy change from tap water.
Ginger lemonade, the sweet drink
It’s not quite as healthy as ginger tea. On the other hand, with lots of ice cubes, it is an excellent refreshment when you just let your soul dangle in the hammock.
- For one liter of lemonade, cut about ten centimeters of the “tuber” and a lemon and add 75 grams of sugar and the juice of one lemon.
- Then you pour hot water over the whole thing.
- Now only steep for two hours and let cool.
To save electricity, it is best to let the lemonade cool down outside to room temperature and then put it in the refrigerator. Now just add ice cubes and your home-brewed lemonade is ready.
Cook the stock from the ginger pods
With organic vegetables, you can also continue to use the bowls by boiling a delicious stock out of them.
- Put the washed peels (including the ginger peels, of course) in a saucepan with water and let them simmer until the broth has developed a nice color and taste.
- Now just pass through a sieve and season with salt and pepper.
The stock can be kept in sealed jars in the refrigerator for over a week.
Ginger oil
Ginger oil binds the healthy ingredients from the root in oil. The gingerols in ginger oil are said to promote blood circulation and help relax muscles. It can also be used as an aromatic bath and massage oil. Details in the post Make ginger oil yourself: this is how it works.
Is Ginger Sustainable?
Clear case: ginger in Asian food or as ginger tea is delicious and healthy. What more do you want? As long as the purchase of ginger is not sustainable, it is also an environmental problem. After all, we don’t usually eat it by the kilo.
But always make sure Organic ginger to buy. This way you burden yourself and the environment less with pesticides. On top of that, you can also use the bowl.
Also read: Attention Pesticides! 12 types of fruits and vegetables you should buy organic
Ginger is mostly imported from China and Peru, sometimes also from Brazil or France. In the case of ginger “from France”, however, the origin may be the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, which belongs to France. The Consumer advice center Bavaria pointed out in 2017 that ginger from Peru is usually a better tasting, but smaller-looking organic variety, but that Peru would be ousted by China because of the prices.
We are therefore inclined to recommend organic ginger from Peru. You can just as easily plant ginger yourself.
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