Health Benefits of Ginger

From LoveToKnow Herbs

There are numerous health benefits of ginger; from nausea, to sore throats, to detoxing, ginger has got you covered.

Ginger tea is very helpful for treating nausea.

Ginger Basics

Ginger is a creeping perennial that originated in the tropics. It grows about three to four feet high and produces long, narrow flowers, but most people are more concerned with the useful ginger roots. The thick, aromatic, knotty, and fibrous root system of ginger is commonly used for a multitude of things. Ginger is also one of the more affordable herbs – a nice bonus.

Many simply peel the root, slice or grate it and add it to recipes. You can grind ginger down, boil it, make it into a medicinal herb tincture or distill it into a helpful essential oil. It’s even manufactured into a pill form – although it’s commonly thought that fresh ginger holds more health benefits than dried.

Following are some tips surrounding how to reap the health benefits of ginger.

The Many Health Benefits of Ginger

Ginger has been utilized through the ages as a health-related plant. Often the form of ginger mandates which health condition it’s useful for treating. The first thing to consider with ginger is whether or not ginger is the appropriate treatment for a condition.

The best thing to do whenever you have a health issue is to discuss treatment with your health care provider before trying to self-treat. Ginger is not right for everyone and can interact with other treatments, such as other essential oils, herbs, medications and so forth. Additionally, when dealing with ginger essential oil, you should never ingest the oil without the direct advice of a qualified aromatherapy practitioner.

Ginger Essential Oil

Ginger essential oil is rarer than most essential oils; it’s not one you hear about too often. Still it is a useful treatment option in oil form. Ginger essential oil is best purchased organic and is perfect for blending with citrus and other spicy essential oils. Ginger essential oil is slightly phototoxic, which means if you’re in the sun all day, don’t apply it unless that area is perfectly covered up.

Some of the uses for ginger essential oils include:

  • Digestion
  • Loss of appetite
  • Sore throat
  • Rheumatic pain

Ginger essential oil can be added directly to a bath or herb vaporizer for cold and flu relief and prevention. To treat the above health conditions, dilute ginger oil into your base oil and apply by massage in the shower, or use in a facial steam. To do a basic facial steam, pour your oil drops into a bowl of boiling water, cover your head with a towel and lean over the bowl as the water cools.

Edible Ginger for Nausea

Edible ginger includes ginger in pill form, tincture, crystallized, dried or fresh root form. Basically there are many forms in which ginger can be ingested.

Research supports edible ginger as a highly useful treatment for most forms of nausea. To use simply follow the travel sickness treatment below, or try ginger pills, ginger in food, raw ginger or ginger tea. Most of the research again points to tinctures or extracts as the most effective treatment form of ginger, but that doesn’t mean that another form won’t help you.

Travel sickness: You can use ginger essential oil drops, pills or tincture for travel sickness relief. Many believe tincture to be the most effective form when it comes to treating travel sickness. Carry a bottle of ginger tincture while traveling. An adult can have about 10 drops per half cup of water and a child can have about three drops per half cup of water.

Morning sickness: Many pregnant women find relief from morning sickness by using ginger. You can slice it and boil it into tea water, eat raw slices, and some companies have even added it to morning specific candy.

Other Health-Based Uses for Ginger

Current research supports ginger as useful for the following health issues:

  • Detoxing your body system is one use for ginger.
  • Ginger can serve as a basic antioxidant.
  • According to research, ginger is the herbs possessing the highest antitumor properties. This means using ginger regularly may ward off tumors – amazing.
  • Ginger has been noted as being an anti-inflammatory agent. This is a topic that needs more research though. While there have been some positive studies surrounding ginger as an anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen almost always comes out ahead.


 


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