I find it intriguing and amazing that something as simple as a seasoning can help someone who is stressed out; in a way it is an embodiment of the phrase: good things come in small packages. As you have probably guessed from the title in this post, I will be talking about ginger and how it helps us when we are stressed out.
So ginger, how does it work? Well ginger contains a host of substances which are collectively called gingerols and more especially 6-Gingerol. These extracts are known to help fight against and relieve many ailments; some of the properties that they have are anticancer, anti-inflammation, and anti-oxidation. They help ease the symptoms of stress like indigestion and headaches; they also help fight against the chemicals in our body that cause stress.
You can learn more about gingerol from this abstract titled, “Biological properties of 6-gingerol: a brief review” written by Wang S, Zhang C, Yang G and Yang Y, and posted on ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
You can also check out this article titled, “Gingerols and shogaols: Important nutraceutical principles from ginger” written by Ruchi Badoni Semwal, Deepak Kumar Semwal, Sandra Combrinck and Alvaro M. Viljoen and posted on sciencedirect.com.
And you can also check out this chapter from an e-book, the chapter is titled, “Chapter 7 The Amazing and Mighty Ginger” ) and is written by Bode AM, Dong Z. and can be found on ncbi.nih.gov.
Now what about actually taking the stuff? Well you could try eating it raw though it has a very strong taste and smell which most find overwhelming, myself included. So instead, you could treat it like seasoning and take it with your normal food. Or you could try it like this article suggests and make some ginger tea.
The article is called, “Stress less: Ginger tea is the answer to all your worries,” and is written by BIANCA LONDON FOR MAILONLINE and posted on dailymail.co.uk. It talks about the benefits of ginger tea and gives a list of its many benefits; to summarise they are:
- Helps with motion sickness
- Helps with digestion
- Anti-Inflammation properties
- Helps with most respiratory problems
- Keeps blood circulation normal
- Helps ease menstrual cramps when applied on stomach (use ginger tea soaked towel)
- Helps boost your immune system
- And of course helps relieve stress
My mother loves ginger tea and used to give it to me as a kid, especially when I was sick. I didn’t like the stuff much myself as a kid, I used to find the smell and taste too strong, but now I don’t mind it so much. What can I say, tastes change; plus they say that children’s tongues have more taste buds so a lot of things smell and taste stronger (which may be why most kids don’t like vegetables).
Well that’s about it for this post; so what’s the take away? Basically try taking some more ginger if you are susceptible to stress, it will help you mentally and physically, a win-win situation all around. It should also add a little spice to your taste buds 😉 (I apologise for my bad joke, I couldn’t help myself).
Alternative Yoga 