Ginger ( Zingiber officinalis ) is a herbaceous plant with many healing and beneficial properties for our body. It is a root that is easy to find both in the fruit and vegetable department and in the spice department in dried form.
HISTORY
The plant from which this root is obtained is very ancient, Cultivated as an alfalfa since ancient times, there are those who claim that it was introduced in the West by Alexander the Great, while there are those who trace its use in medicine back to starting from the 1st century AD It is said that it was very dear to Confucius (5th century BC) because it cleared the mind and eliminated impurities. Dioscorides believed it capable of warming and calming the stomach; Pythagoras considered it an antidote to snake bites. According to the Salerno school, the rhizome pushed, indeed forced, young people to love, and this fame contributed to the birth of a potion composed of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, breadcrumbs and rose water.
THE POINT OF VIEW OF DISTANT MEDICINES
Traditional Chinese medicine has always considered ginger a food with a warm nature, making a distinction between fresh ginger and dry ginger with a more warm and spicy nature. Thanks to these characteristics it has always been used to treat typical colds and to promote digestion. In Ayurvedic medicine it is instead considered a stimulant and a pain reliever and is recommended for all constitutional types.
THE RHIZOME
The rhizome of ginger is rich in starches (about 60%) and contains a fair amount of essential oil, between 0.8 and 2%. The constituents responsible for its flavor are called gingerols. Gingerols are phenolic compounds capable of binding to various molecules and influencing metabolism. In fresh ginger there is 6-gingerol while in dry or powdered ginger there is 3 times more potent 6-shogaol (reason of nature more spicy and warming). A broad spectrum of beneficial effects have been associated with these compounds:
- Antioxidants and anti-inflammatories : reduce oxidative stress and lower chronic inflammation.
- Protective cardio : by intervening in the metabolism of lipids, they reduce them by lowering their levels in the blood.
- Neuroprotective : for their antioxidant action.
- Antiemetics: useful in case of nausea
- They reduce the pains of the menstrual cycle: they act by inhibiting the biosynthesis of prostaglandins and leukotrienes (inflammatory mediators), responsible for the pains of the cycle.
Find the dry extract of ginger root inside Zenzimix