Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Ginger! Who'da Thunk it!

I've just made a late-in-life discovery: Ginger is a healthful nutrient! I knew about using it for seasoning, and I watched Gilligan's Island, so I knew about the hair color, but I never knew the following facts. Now we can all benefit from this great gift ...

Ginger, whole, sliced, grated, in crystals, or dried and powdered is beneficial for:
  • Relieving nausea - doesn't cause drowsiness like some meds, especially useful after surgery or chemotherapy.
  • Ease motion sickness when riding or flying.
  • Reduce dizziness, i.e. from motion sickness, and in older adults.
  • Control chronic pain by reducing inflammation and lowering natural pain-causing Prostaglandins. Relieve muscle strain and pain from arthritis (swelling joints, etc.) - using ginger oil for massages.
  • Limit flatulence by soothing the digestive tract. (Also important when traveling long distances in close quarters!)
  • Lessening symptoms of common colds, allergies, and other respiratory problems. It's a natural decongestant!
  • Improve blood lipid levels by raising HDL (good) cholesterol, lowering LDL (the bad one) and reducing triglycerides.
So grab some hot ginger tea, ginger ale, or a ginger beer and some ginger snap cookies and make your mouth as well as your body a lot happier!


4 comments:

Tom Degan said...

THE FOLLOWING IS A LETTER THAT ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST TRACY MURPHY WROTE TO THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF BUFFALO, NY:

Dear Mayor Brown and the Common Council of Buffalo,

The Ringling Circus has left town, and I am here dumbfounded as to why we allow a business to perform in Buffalo that is clearly abusive to Asian elephants, an endangered species, as well as many other exotic and domestic animals.

The inhumane treatment toward animals with whips, blow torches and bull hooks has been documented for years by many animal welfare agencies. Currently there is a Federal lawsuit against Ringling for illegal abusive treatment toward a protected endangered species, the elephants.

The animals are clearly kept in bondage and suffer greatly every day of their lives. Why cannot we reach into our sense of common decency and ban these circuses with animals? I ask all of you this question and so do many others: http://wnymedia.net/wnymedia/brianzabka/2009/10/peta-protests-the-circus/

I care deeply for these elephants, as well as all the animals that are exploited in these circuses. I am not ashamed to stand up for every one of them, and if it takes standing on the street corners of Buffalo to collect thousands of petition signatures to help these animals, I will peacefully and proudly do that. I cannot think of any other way I would want to spend the rest of my life.

As Martin Luther King, Jr said, "One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

Let freedom ring for these animals. Let freedom ring.


Sincerely,

Tracy Murphy

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

STEPcoach said...

More good advice on this topic of ginger for health is at:

http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/Blog/Amy-Campbell/spice-it-up-boosting-your-health-with-spices-and-herbs-part-2/#comment-371001

Bill Medifast said...

I love how ginger has always seemed to be miss understood. I cook with it regularly and absolutely love it.

Thanks for sharing the health benefits. Rare you see this information.

Bill M.

Kids gummy vitamins said...

A great blog and lovely tips about ginger….yummy recipes man!!

I stumbled upon this site jus a few mins back…and would love to hang around here for quite sometime…nice da!!