This week, I’ve featured 5 common herbs that are either easy to grow or fairly easy to come by and that by including then in the diet, can have a strong, positive impact on our health.
The final herb for this week is ginger. If you look at it’s nutritional profile below, you’ll notice that it is not nearly as robust as the previous herbs mentioned here this week.
% Daily Value
Magnesium 3
Potassium 3
Copper 3
Manganese 3
Yet, as an herbal remedy, ginger is reliably used to safely treat conditions such as motion sickness, nausea and upset stomach, gas, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. I think back to how many times I was given ginger ale for an upset stomach while growing up. Today, I don’t normally drink soda, but if I’m in the mood for a treat, I will buy Reed’s Ginger Beer. It’s a delicious, all natural, non-alcoholic carbonated beverage sweetened with honey.
Ginger also contains compounds called gingerols that act as anti-inflammatory agents and are believed to help relieve the pain and swelling of arthritis. Gingerols are also believed to act as potent antioxidants as well.
Ginger is a warming herb that can induce sweating and help fight an oncoming cold or flu. Try making a tea by grating a small piece of ginger then squeezing the juice into hot water. Add lemon and honey.
Here are some additional ways to use ginger:
- Powdered or crystallized and minced and added to granola
- Added into baked goods
- Sliced or chopped and added to a stir-fry
- Juiced along with vegetables
- Included with fermented vegetables
What are some additional ways you add ginger into your diet?
I love ginger! I make my ginger tea very strong. I chop up about an inch of the root and boil in water for about 10 minutes then sweeten with honey. I also highly recommend this ginger ale: http://freshgingerale.com/
ReplyDeleteI like my tea strong too Megan ; ) The jasmine ginger ale sounds great!! Have you tried that one??
ReplyDeleteYeah the farmers market by me sells them so I get them all the time. They're all delicious :)
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