Ginger has antibiotic qualities and also helps to thin the blood One of my pregnant friends at the moment has seriously been suffering from nausea and vomiting, and it’s always fascinated me how some ladies can just sail through pregnancy without it. I suffered from nausea but was lucky to never feel the need to vomit. I suggested she try ginger as it helped me enormously in relieving the severity of the nausea. I always had a hot mug of water with fresh ginger soaked in it to ease morning sickness.
One clinical trial conducted by the department of anaesthesiology at Saint Bartholomew’s hospital in London found that 1g of ginger powder was as effective – and safer – with post-operative nausea and vomiting as the tranquiliser commonly used by hospitals.
Ginger extract also reduces symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee and it has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for the treatment of inflammation of rheumatism for centuries. Research confirms that ginger acts as an anti-thrombotic and anti-inflammatory agent in humans. It has also been shown in test tubes to have antibiotic properties, killing some forms of salmonella and other bacteria. I worked with a homeopathic vet and he used it as an anti-ulcer agent in animals.
Ginger has an endless list of uses, including as an antidiarrhoeal, reducing chest congestion, and thinning the blood, much to the benefit of patients with heart disease. Whenever I cook my Thai stir-fry I always peel and dice many micro amounts of ginger to stir into the dish with a little bit of maple syrup and unrefined sea salt. Then, people who don’t think they like ginger don’t notice it amongst the sweet chilli or hoisin sauce, depending on the day, mixed in with the VBites hoisin duck!
And here’s another idea. Being a chocoholic – for dark chocolate, not the dairy and sugary stuff – I like to melt Seed and Bean vegan dark chocolate and add lots of cranberries, lime and chilli with diced ginger. I melt this and reform it, then crack it up on the plate for everybody’s desert.
Yummy...