An herb and plant that provides endless health benefits!
Ginger ( official name: Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is an herb and a plant. The ginger spice comes from the roots of the plant and its rhizome (underground stem) is used as both a spice and a medicine. It can be used fresh, dried, and powdered, or as a juice or oil (extract). It has a long history of being used as a medicine and herbal since ancient times and had been used as an important cooking spice throughout the world.
Chinese records dating from the fourth century BC indicate that Ginger was used as a treatment for conditions including stomachache, diarrhea, nausea, cholera, hemorrhage, rheumatism, and toothaches. An example of a remedy for China would consist of powdered ginger sprinkled atop scrambled eggs to reduce a cough. While here, in the United States, we praise ginger for its power to aid with digestion by alleviating motion sickness and nausea, especially for pregnant women coming to grips with morning sickness.
Medicinal properties associated with ginger are anti-inflammatory properties, anti-thrombotic properties, cholesterol-lowering properties, blood pressure-lowering properties, anti-microbial properties, anti-oxidant properties, anti-tumor properties, and hypoglycemic properties. Consumption of ginger also has beneficial effects on heart disease, cancer, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and bacterial infections.
There are many variations of ginger, but the main two are black and red. Black ginger has been claimed that black ginger is appropriate to cure allergies, asthma, impotence, gout, dysentery, peptic ulcer, and diabetes. Red ginger is also known as turmeric, employed as a dye source food colorant, such as mustard, due to its vibrant yellow color.
Interested in cooking with ginger? Well, just an exciting fact to share, ginger is suitable for all types of dishes, both sweet – like teas, puddings, pies, cookies, cakes, gingerbreads, candies, etc., – and savory, such as soups/stews, sauces, savory puddings, grills, roasts, etc. For some inspiration, try some of our recipes that highlight Ginger, among other spices which we’ll cover in more depth in the near future! 😉