subject: Ginger: The Miraculous Root [print this page] One of the least mentioned but actually widely used and common food, is the good old root ginger. Ginger has served as medicine, spice and a delicacy for thousand of years before becoming widely known to the western world. More commonly cultivated and used in South Asia, East Africa and the Caribbean, it is a wealth of useful substances, and has a complex and rich effect in our body's biochemistry.
Ginger contains volatile oils that have been found to help bowel movements, as well as have antibacterial, sedative, antipyretic (help combat fever) and analgesic properties. Laboratory research has shown evidence that ginger helps prevent skin cancer as well as ovarian cancer.
Though not all of its medicinal properties were known in the past, it has been in use as a medicine mainly concerning constipation, colic, dyspepsia and other mild conditions of the gastrointestinal tract.
It is also a useful diarrhea as well as nausea caused by pregnancy, seasickness and even chemotherapy.
Other notable uses are in treating cough and the common cold, in the form of infusions such as ginger beer and ginger ale. It has even shown anti-inflammatory capacities, as well as effectiveness against arthritis.
The major reason why ginger is considered among the fat burning foods are its effects on cholesterol levels and diabetes. Several substances in ginger act together to modify the body's metabolic functions, lower cholesterol levels in the blood, protecting the heart, and convert more of the body's fat into energy. It also helps keep your glycemic index low, and as such can help combat diabetes, as well as keep energy from foods being turned into fat instead of being used up slowly, without throwing the body's glucose levels out of balance.
On top of all that, it's really easy to add ginger to your daily eating habits, since it can be used in your cuisine in a multitude of ways. It is fleshy, juicy and a has a mildly sweet aroma. They can be pickled in sherry or vinegar, and eaten as a healthy snack. You can even boil ginger and make some ginger tea, along with lemon or honey.
Ginger forms a triad of very commonly used vegetables along with garlic and fresh green onions in Many Asian cuisines, most notably the Chinese and the Japanese cuisine, and is used for its special flavor. Instead of fresh ginger you can also use powdered dry ginger, though they taste different, and powdered ginger is naturally more potent. Powdered ginger can also be used for gingerbread, ginger cookies, ginger ale and beer, as well as crackers and cake.
fat burning food like Ginger can also act as a food preservative and is quite easily stored as the whole root, either in the refrigerated or frozen, in a plastic bag.
You will be able to find many recipes involving ginger either fresh, dried, powdered or as ginger ale or beer. You can use it in sweets, tea, coffee and generally as a spice in many other foods.
