To quote Game of Thrones, ‘Ginger was kissed by fire,’ and purification by fire is the quickest. If there was one way to purify our body from within, it would be through ginger. As a matter of fact, the uses and health benefits of ginger are so many that we shall have two articles on this awesome root.
The first article (this one) will only discuss the top health benefits of ginger. The second (How to use ginger in our daily diet) will discuss methods of consumption.
The way our current lifestyle is, it is very difficult to stay clean. I’m talking about the things we are exposed to every time we go out. Smokes, gas, germs- you name it, we inhale it.
Not to mention, our foods and drinks (processed foods, fast food, and sugary drinks) are loaded with unnatural substances harmful to our bodies. Go towards the weekends and we have fatty barbecues, hotdogs, and alcohol.
It is a miracle that we live as long as we do. However, miracles have nothing to do with it. No matter how unhealthy our lifestyle is, we do consume some ginger from time to time. And that, in reality, keeps us alive. It’s as if nature had the foresight to peer into the future and produced a solution beforehand.
But what if we could use ginger consciously and consume some fresh ginger every day keeping all its health benefits intact? How can ginger benefit our overall health? As I said, we will have a separate article on how to consume ginger.
Here are 15 main health benefits of ginger that you should be aware of.
15 Top Health Benefits of Ginger:
1. Reduces Inflammation and Pain
The medicinal use of ginger goes back about 6,000 years. Ginger contains its own oil called Gingerol. Much like natural menthol, it can reduce both internal and external pains.
- For internal pains, like stomachache, headache, menstrual pains, ulcer pains, and muscle pains, take ginger straight in. You can chew it and swallow it. If you don’t like the taste, crush/shred some ginger root and mix in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it.
- For external pains, like cuts and bruises, crush some ginger root, turn it into a paste, and apply directly on the painful area. You may patch the area with a piece of cloth (bandage) There may be a slight burning sensation for a while, but it’ll reduce the pain within a few minutes.
2. Improves Oral Health
Bleeding gums, toothache, bad breath- you name it, ginger can fix it. Gingerol (Ginger oil) is a powerful natural germicide.
- To get rid of toothache, apply ginger paste on the painful tooth and the surrounding gum and close your mouth for a few minutes.
- For bleeding gums, do the same.
- To get rid of bad breath, mix ginger paste in some lukewarm water. Circle it around in your mouth like you do with a normal mouthwash, and then, instead of spitting it out, swallow it. Remember that a lot of the bad breath-causing bacteria live in the stomach and not in the mouth. You wanna kill them too.
There’s also evidence, that mixing ginger paste with some kitchen salt (Sodium Chloride) and brushing teeth with the mixture whitens teeth.
Ginger tea is also known to be an excellent natural cure for tonsillitis.
3. Improves Vocal Performance
Are you a singer? Do you want to sing at a higher scale without putting too much stress on your vocal cord? Ginger soothes the vocal muscles. The warm sensation that you feel when you take ginger, relaxes the vocal cords and allows them to function at an optimal level.
Those who go to music schools know about the power of a good cup of ginger tea.
4. May Stop Cancer Cell Growth
This is one of the serious uses. Cancer cells grow in the presence of free radicals. Ginger has powerful antioxidant properties that can remove/reduce the radicals and halt the growth of several cancer cells.
Cancer patients should make it a habit of carrying some ginger water wherever they go. Simply crush some fresh ginger mix with water, and put it in a container so that they can take sips throughout the day.
5. Aids in Weight Loss
It is a proven scientific fact. Two major studies in the field of obesity were conducted and both confirm that ginger aids in weight loss. Ginger supplements and fresh ginger were used to conduct the studies.
- The first is the cleansing effect: If there are germs gathering in a particular part inside the body, our body tends to cover it with fatty cells to prevent the germs from spreading to the other areas. Since ginger is a germicide and a cleanser, it kills the germs and so the fat is no longer necessary. It gets metabolized.
- The second is the metabolic effect: MC4R genes are known to control the rate of metabolism in all primates. Ginger has been proven to improve functions of MCR4 causing our body to burn calories faster.
6. Improves Heart Health and Regulates Blood Pressure
Whatever influences MCR4 will also naturally improve the functions of the heart. Burning calories at a higher rate means less cholesterol and sugar in the blood, which also means that the heart will have an easier time pumping it throughout the body.
As a result, your blood pressure will stabilize.
Diabetic patients can also benefit from fast calorie burns. Ginger water can aid insulin in processing blood sugar.
7. Improves Sexual Performance
We can’t stress this enough. You can also read our article on ‘Apple Cider Vinegar,’ which mentions the same things. Sexual performance (both men and women) depends a lot on blood flow and the performance of the heart.
The ancients got it right. We do love from the bottom of our hearts. Although later on, scientists discovered that we love from our hypothalamus, a small part of the brain that releases a hormone called Oxytocin, which generates connectedness to another and the feeling of love.
Yet, now we know it is the heart that initiates the process and influences the hypothalamus. Therefore, heart health is the key to an improved love and sex life, and ginger takes care of the heart.
Men will surely enjoy the health benefits from ginger consumption and male genitalia is totally dependent on blood flow. Ginger is the natural Viagra that contributes to longer and stronger erections.
8. Reduces Anxiety, Stress, and Depression
And again, a clean body with a good heart and regulated blood pressure seldom gets stressed. Ginger can effectively reduce anxiety, stress, and depression. Sure, if the condition is serious, you should seek professional help. You may also go through with the therapy sessions and may have to take some medications.
Yet, anxiety medications and antidepressants are known to be addictive.
Related: Valium Addiction and Recovery
You can avoid all that trouble with some ginger added to your daily diet.
9. Improves Lung Functions
This is for smokers. Do you want to clear your lungs from time to time? There’s no need for medical studies. Take a solid 10-gram piece of ginger, chew it, and swallow it. Sure, it’ll feel a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, but you shall have clear lungs in 10 minutes.
Of course, it does not mean that ginger will solve all the smoking-related issues. However, it does help if you want to improve your weakened lungs.
10. Helps with Osteoarthritis and Osteoporosis
As we grow older, the weaknesses in our bodies start to reveal themselves. Osteoarthritis is such. It is a kind of bone and joint pain that we notice among the aging population. The cause of osteoarthritis is probably an old injury. Studies have found that those who take ginger every day experience a significantly reduced level of pain due to the anti-inflammatory properties of ginger.
In the case of osteoporosis, the cause is bone loss. It turns out, that the calcium stored in our bones gets spent due to the presence of several types of toxins. Reduce the toxins, and the bone density remains intact.
Ginger, being a cleanser, certainly reduces toxins in the body and protects the calcium.
11. Strengthens the Digestive System
There’s one system in our body that we throw a lot of garbage at day in and day out. It is our digestive system. Everything we eat and drink has to pass through it. And as we mentioned earlier, food, nowadays, is mostly processed.
A weakened digestive system can lead to an insurmountable amount of problems. Anything from low life span, miscarriage, indigestion, obesity, gastritis, ulcers, diabetes, high blood pressure, liver problems, kidney problems, hyperacidity, low IQ, reduced brain functions, loss of vision, loss of muscle coordination, slow metabolism, and the list goes on.
Ginger, being a powerful antioxidant, a germicide, and a natural cleanser comes in handy in restoring the strength of the digestive system and contributing to overall general health.
12. Helps Pregnant Mothers
Ginger is a huge help to pregnant mothers. As a natural anti-inflammatory, it’ll reduce all sorts of uncomfortable swellings.
You cannot drink coffee or anything with caffeine in it, so why not a cup of ginger tea in the morning? Ginger helps with morning sickness.
It reduces birth pains and aids in easy birth when the time comes.
13. Improves Skin Conditions
Want some clean, younger-looking, pimple, and acne-free skin? Add some ginger to your daily diet and have it so. There is nothing better than a natural detoxifier to restore our skin.
14. Prevents or Slows Alzheimer’s Disease
It is also a medically proven fact. The known cause of Alzheimer’s disease and several other age-related conditions is called ‘Oxidative Stress.’ The antioxidant properties of ginger can prevent that.
Since ginger also prevents inflammation, it does so to any inflammation in the brain. It is not a cure, but ginger has been proven effective in curbing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
15. Increases Height
This is something you didn’t know. Do you want to be taller? We have already discussed in the Osteoporosis section that the calcium in our bones gets spent due to the presence of toxins and ginger can restore it.
In the same way, ginger can increase your height by helping the skeleton grow. Although it will not work if you are above 23, it still works for young adults.
The Takeaways
Due to our weather, environment, pollution, and lifestyle, we put our bodies in harm’s way on a day-to-day basis. However, nature still provides excellent solutions so that we can maintain our bodies.
Ginger is such a superfood. Since is it a root crop, it collects the best nutrients from the earth and stores them for our consumption. We should take advantage of it and harness its powers.
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