If you’re thinking you don’t know what ginger is, we beg to differ. You’ve probably come across this funky-looking root in the grocery store without even knowing it. And that pink stuff on your sushi platter? Ginger! Most people don’t make a point to include ginger in their daily lives, but you’ll want to make it a part of your routine after you hear what ginger can do for you. Ginger can do something positive for almost every part of your body – plus it’s downright delicious! Check out these 21 benefits you can get from including ginger in your daily diet.
1. Soothes Irritable Bowel Syndrome
The thing ginger is best known for is soothing an upset stomach. Why else do you sip ginger ale when you’re nauseous? People with chronic irritable bowel syndrome (and other stomach disorders) will take ginger supplements to ease their stomach pains. If you have stomach problems, talk to your doctor about getting ginger in your diet.
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2. Helps With Weight Loss
Eating ginger pills or raw ginger when you’re dieting is extremely helpful to weight loss. The reason being that ginger helps to burn fat, so including it in your diet makes sure that you’re burning fat when you exercise, rather than accidentally burning muscle. Ginger also helps your body absorb the nutrients it needs while you’re dieting, so it will help you see results quickly without too much extra effort.
3. Relieves Tired Muscles
If you’re strength training, ginger is your new best friend. Ginger helps your muscles recover after a really hard weight day, and let’s you participate in cardio on your days off. Or it just let’s you walk normally after leg day. Praise.
4. Helps With Morning Sickness
If you’re already a mom, or if you’re currently a mother-to-be, you know how unpleasant morning sickness can be. Yuck. Ginger, with it’s healing properties for your tummy, is great for that nasty morning sickness! Mommies everywhere – stock up on your ginger.
5. Reduces Arthritis Inflammation
Painful arthritis? You’re not alone. Millions of people suffer from arthritis each year and have to turn to pain pills to relieve the all-day aches. But if you snack on some ginger, you can get arthritis relief without turning to pills! Ginger provides anti-inflammatory, all-natural pain relief, no chemicals needed.
6. Improve Circulation
Having good circulation is excellent for you in a medley of ways! Primarily, it provides some amazing natural energy and keeps you from going throughout your day like a slug. Especially if you live in cold weather, extra ginger will help get your blood flowing and keep your internal temperature up.
7. Open Up Inflamed Airways
If you suffer from asthma, you’re probably constantly looking for medical relief from your breathing problems. Just like ginger opens up your vessels and gets your blood flowing, it also can open up your airways and get your breathing more regular in an all-natural way.
8. Blocks Heartburn
Going out for barbecue? Stop heartburn before it even begins by eating some ginger first. Ginger has been proven to have a gastroprotective effect, meaning it prevents the loosening of the lower esophageal sphincter and blocks acid from regurgitating back up. It also kills off harmful bacteria, such as helicobacter pylori, which is thought to cause heartburn.
9. Prevents Cancer
Ginger doesn’t just help minor problems, it’s also a proven lifesaver. Several studies have found it beneficial in fighting lung, prostate, ovarian, colon, breast, skin, and pancreatic cancers.
The compound 6-gingerol, which is found in large amounts in raw ginger, is credited with the cancer-stopping abilities. 6-gingerol has anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties. This prevents new cancer cells from forming and destroy active ones.
10. Stops Motion Sickness
Whether it’s on a plane, train, or in the car, millions of people suffer from debilitating motion sickness – which makes traveling a bare. Adding ginger to your diet, because of its digestive healing properties, soothes motion sickness and makes traveling a breeze.
11. Clears Sinuses
If you’re looking for sinus relief without over-the-counter drugs, turn to ginger first. There is an active ingredient in ginger that has shown to work wonders on the sinuses, helping to unclog them and assist with the drainage. For the best results, brew yourself some ginger tea to clear your airways in a snap.
12. Prevents Alzheimer’s
Studies have shown that ginger can help slow down the loss of brain cells, which typically leads to debilitating brain diseases like Alzheimer’s. Additionally, some studies suggest the antioxidants and other powerful compounds found in ginger can fight inflammatory responses that occur in the brain.
13. Improves Your Breath
Ever wonder why ginger is included with your sushi? It’s used to cleanse your palette in between bites, especially if you’re mixing flavors. This ability to clean your palette completely cleanses your mouth, improving your breath at the source.
14. Strengthens Immune System
Do you dread cold season? Know you’re going to sick at the start of every week? Don’t let a weak immune system get you down! Ginger has been proven to clean out your lymphatic system, flush out toxins, and kill bacteria, all of which can strengthen your immune system and keep you healthy.
15. Protects Against Radiation
Hopefully, this isn’t something many of us NEED protection against, but there are some jobs (X-ray technicians, for instances) and even some parts of the world that require a little extra protection against radiation. As we all know, radiation can thoroughly damage your bodily cells, causing radiation poisoning and cancer, but the properties found in ginger have been proven to protect your system against harmful radiation rays.
16. Clears Skin
Ginger helps reduce swelling and irritation in your other organs, so why not your largest organ – the skin! With its anti-inflammatory properties, ginger tea in particular helps to clear rashes on the skin. This includes the age-old irritant of the skin, acne.
17. Heal Frostbite
As we mentioned earlier, ginger helps to improve circulation. If you, for some awful reason, are experiencing frostbite, it means that your circulation is at an all-time low. To get your circulation flowing and heal your frostbite naturally, incorporate ginger into your healing process!
18. Reduces the Risk of Heart Attack
Heart diseases, including heart attacks or strokes, most commonly occur from vessels becoming blocked by clots. Blood clotting is a symptom of high cholesterol which ginger can help reduce. Ginger has been show to lower cholesterol which reduces blood clots and greatly reduces an individuals’ risk of suffering from a heart attack.
19. Relieves Gas
With all its stomach-oriented benefits, you probably saw this one coming. Gas can be embarrassing, and many people take chemical supplements to try and prevent this natural occurrence from happening in public. But we suggest taking an all-natural route first! Ginger soothes the stomach, especially after eating large, greasy meals, and stops gas before it can start.
20. Relieves Menstrual Cramps
As most women know, menstrual cramps can be the bane of your existence. Distracting and painful, you want to nix the cramping quick, so you usually turn to drugs like Advil or Ibuprofen. But a recent study found that the all-natural, anti-inflammatory properties of ginger proved more effective on menstrual pains than ANY over-the-counter drug. Raw or in tea, ginger is the cramping gal’s best friend.
21. Fights Infections
On top of everything else, ginger has anti-bacterial properties, too! Which means it’s a first-line of defense with bodily infections. The compound in ginger, gingerol, has been proven to fight and cure many different types of infections – however, ginger works most effectively on infections of the mouth.
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