Dietician Lists Health Benefits of Taking Ginger

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Karen Ansel, registered dietician and author of Healing Superfoods for Anti-Aging: Stay Younger Live Longer has recently explained the overall health benefits of ginger, saying there are wide-ranging health benefits of ginger.

Ansel said ginger is a natural spice that has been in use for thousands of years as a flavouring agent as well as a natural remedy for the treatment of various conditions, like common cold, pain and others.

For thousands of years, farmers prized ginger as food and medicine. This tropical plant, in the same botanical family as turmeric and cardamom, was effectively used to relieve nausea and vomiting caused by illness and seasickness.

Dietician Lists Health Benefits of Taking Ginger
Dietician Lists Health Benefits of Taking Ginger

According to the report published on womenshealthmag.com, the dietician revealed some great benefits of ginger to the body. The findings are listed below:

  1. It can reduce pain

Ansel says ginger contains substances known as gingerols that quash inflammation and turn off pain-causing compounds in the body. But if you’re dealing with any kind of chronic pain, talk to your doctor about a long-term treatment plan, since it might be something a plant can’t fix.

  1. It heals irritated skin
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If strong winds do a number on your skin, start healing from the inside out with ginger. According to Ansel, ginger’s anti-inflammatory properties help soothe red, irritated skin.

  1. It may help protect against cancer

While no single ingredient has the power to ward off serious disease, ginger does pack a pretty mean punch. Ginger is loaded with antioxidants that help protect the body from cancer, says Ansel.

  1. It can help you look younger

You probably see the buzzword “antioxidant” splayed across your favourite expensive face creams – but that’s actually for good reason. There’s promising (yet preliminary!) research suggesting antioxidants help protect the skin from free-radicals (things in the environment like pollution and UV rays), which speed up the breakdown of collagen and damage the skin. According to Ansel, ginger’s antioxidant content can help maintain your skin’s collagen production, which promotes skin elasticity and smoothness.

  1. It aids digestion

Food babies are pretty uncomfortable, but thanks to ginger, they don’t have to last forever. A cup of ginger tea could help your stomach empty faster, so food doesn’t just sit there after an indulgent meal, according to Christy Brissette, registered dietician and president of 80 Twenty Nutrition, it will help calm your stomach and stave off bloating and gas.

  1. It reduces nausea
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Why yes, you are pretty much nurse Florence Nightingale if you offer your hungover friend a can of ginger ale the morning after a fun night out. In general, ginger is a research-backed remedy for nausea, whether you’re dealing with a hangover, enduring a bumpy road trip, recovering from chemotherapy, or cursing pregnancy’s morning-sickness symptoms.

  1. It can reduce bad cholesterol

Brissette says ginger can help lower LDL cholesterol levels (the bad kind!), reducing your risk of heart disease. A small recent study affirmed these findings, demonstrating that control groups who consumed 3g of ginger (that’s about half a teaspoon) three times a day experienced a significantly higher reduction in triglyceride and cholesterol than the placebo group.

  1. It can ward off cardiovascular disease
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Ginger’s blood-thinning properties could help prevent the formation of blood clots, reducing your risk of heart and stroke. Brissette warns that if you already take blood-thinning medications, check with your doctor before including more ginger in your diet.

  1. It help boosts immunity

Why do people live on ginger lozenges when they’re sick? Those same gingerols that fight inflammation also have antimicrobial and antifungal properties to help fight infections and boost your immunity. Steal Brissette’s speedy-recovery go-to:

  • Hot water
  • Two tablespoons of fresh grated ginger
  • Juice of one lemon
  • Half a tablespoon of honey.

Or, toss a teaspoon into chicken soup for some added cold-fighting benefits.

  1. It eases period cramps

If you find yourself clutching your abdomen in pain every month, you might want to try an ibuprofen alternative, according to Jessica Perez, a registered dietitian. “I firmly believe ginger is one of the best natural forms of medicine,” she says. “It helps with so many inflammatory processes.”

 

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