Who doesn’t want to be that little bit healthier? Especially if improving your health involves minimal effort. With this in mind we’ve made it our mission to bring you news each week of a product, a foodstuff, an exercise technique or a pill that promises potentially magical health-giving properties.
This week’s magic ingredient: Ginger
Not to be confused with: minger, gingivitis, gange, Ming the Merciless
I hate gingers: This has got nothing to do with people who have red hair, also commonly known as gingers. We’re talking about the ingredient; you might know it better as root ginger.
I don’t like them all, but that Isla Fisher is certainly one ginger I’d love to root. Yer one from Girls Aloud on the other hand wouldn’t be my cup of tea at all… Shut up talking about ginger people, we’re meant to be on about the ingredient, pay attention.
OK sorry, what’s the craic with this ginger stuff so? I’m glad you asked. Ginger is common the world over in various food stuffs. In India for instance, it is used as a spice in curries whereas on this side of the world, you’ll find it in things like ginger biscuits and ginger ale and you might also have heard of ginger beer which originated in Britain a couple of centuries back.
Beer? Now you’re talking. Sorry to disappoint, but although an alcoholic version still exists, ginger beer now serves primarily as a soft drink. It can be used, however, along with beer to form a shandy, or combined with vodka and lime to produce a powerful Moscow mule cocktail. The title is painfully ironic, as ginger beer is not available for purchase in Russia.
Ha, stupid Russians. I know, I know. But that’s a matter for another day.
Hold on here, all I’ve heard so far is curry, biscuits and beer. I thought this stuff was meant to be healthy. You’re right; I kind of wandered off the point there. Ginger is said to have blood thinning properties and can also lower cholesterol, making it useful in the treatment of heart disease. It stimulates the salivary glands, making swallowing easier and has also been found useful in the treatment of nausea, motion sickness and even diarrhoea.
A number of old wives’ tales also exist surrounding the mythical powers of the ginger plant. In China it’s used with water to create a drink which is used to treat colds, while in India it is used as a paste and applied to the temple to relieve headaches.
A headache paste? There’s a Sunday morning cure for you. Do they grow it around here then? Not a huge amount of it, but feel free to give it a try if you want. India is the main producer of ginger and China and Jamaica wouldn’t be far behind.
OK, you’ve convinced me and anyways, I’ve always wanted to try one of them gingerbread men. How do I take the stuff? The ginger plant is available in most food stores and health food shops and you can eat it raw off the plant if you peel it. Ginger as a spice or as a condiment is more widely available.
One last thing, just looking at the picture you have there, it looks really familiar… We thought the exact same thing…a badly deformed shite.
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