Ginger Guru

When you think of ginger, what comes to mind? If the only image conjured up is of a busty redhead on Gilligan’s Island, then you’d better wake up and get off your deserted island. Ginger has been shown to help stave off a variety of maladies including food poisoning, hangovers, indigestion, stress, sore muscles, and motion sickness. Instead of turning to the medicine cabinet, turn to your spice rack. Your kitchen may well become another pharmacy.

Take a Backseat, Tums
Your hosts or hostesses graciously offer you another spicy meatball at a holiday mixer, crooning, “Just one more of my stuffed mushrooms.” Next comes the delicious caramelized onion appetizer and you top it all off with the death-by- chocolate dessert. The heartburn is building and death sounds like a retreat from the pain. Instead of popping an antacid, try ginger. Ginger has been known to provide relief from numerous stress-related ailments including sour stomach. A couple of ginger chews should do the trick.

Headache Relief
“I want a Spiderman web blaster for Christmas!” your four-year-old booms loud enough for the walls to hear. Your in-laws changed their travel plans to spend extra time with you over the holidays, and you weakly answered “yes” to a call requesting six dozen cookies for tomorrow’s school play. That stress headache is just starting, and it’s only the first week of December. Instead of shaking the aspirin bottle, consider ginger. It can decrease the severity and frequency of headaches and inhibit inflammation in blood vessels – ailments that often result from stress. It brings headache relief for harried Santas.

Overexertion Solution
Has the holiday hassle run you down? Ginger has been touted as the "hurts all over" cure. Research shows the anti-inflammatory benefits of ginger can improve blood flow and provide relief to sore achy muscles. Use ginger as a natural alternative to ibuprofen and other pain medications. Surprisingly, it doesn’t take much. Simply slice a teaspoon of fresh ginger and add to your stir-fry vegetables.

Holiday Hangover Helper
Throwing back a couple of spiked eggnogs and toasting your comrades at holiday parties can often lead to a hangover. Ginger has been reported to provide relief to hangover sufferers, and it's an effective treatment for the nausea and vomiting that may be associated with a hangover.

Battling Food Poisoning
Holiday parties often mean countless buffets, cookie exchanges, and leftovers that can spread foodborne illness. Unfortunately, all that socializing may find you racing to the toilet or to your doctor with food poisoning. Often passed off as other illnesses, food poisoning affects more than 76 million Americans each year. Instead of reaching for the Pepto Bismol, try ginger. It's long been trusted to ease symptoms of food poisoning like nausea, vomiting, cramping and diarrhea.

Don't Let Motion Sickness Interrupt Holiday Travel
Unprecedented numbers of Americans will be driving, or flying during the holiday season. To avoid falling victim to motion sickness symptoms (nausea and headaches) it's recommended that travelers pack ginger candies in their carry-ons before boarding planes or traveling by automobile. These candies, made from 100% baby ginger, have been shown to ward off queasiness and allow holiday travelers to focus on their trips rather than their wooziness. A medical journal, The Lancet, reported that ginger is twice as effective as ingredients in Dramamine, the popular OTC medicine for motion sickness.

Beat the Holiday Blues
The Christmas tree is down, the ornaments are back in the attic, and the holiday nibbling has caused you to see an extra five pounds register on your scale. The weather forecast calls for more overcast, cold, dreary days. You just want to lie in bed with the covers pulled over your head. Think ginger. It is reported to be a “psychoactive” product, meaning that if you use enough of it, it’s a mild mood-elevating substance. Take a break with a bottle of ginger brew. There are many from which to choose, such as cherry, raspberry or my favorite, Jamaican-style: curl up with a bottle and you'll be immediately transported to the island filled with coconut trees and banana blossoms.

Spice up Your Holidays
There are an emerging number of ginger products on the market including beverages, candy chews, cookies, biscotti, chips, candied ginger root, and mints. You can also make a strong spicy drink by boiling grated ginger root in a cup or two of water. Add sweetener if desired. Use dried ginger, fresh “baby” ginger, or a drop of ginger essential oil in a glass of hot water. For recipes and ideas, visit www.gingerpeople.com.

~Lynda Graham-Murray, MA, RD, LD, CSSN