Last year we devoted an article to superfoods. In that article there was no real scientific rigour to how we determined how ‘super’ a food was, all we did was consult a number of (we hoped reputable) online sources and listed which superfoods made it on to more than one list. If it was on four, it was a ‘hyperfood’ – FYI not an official term.
What was interesting and surprising was that certain foods – almost universally recognised as being super – only made it on to one list, for example blueberries, broccoli, kale and quinoa, whereas others were elevated to another level. And ginger was one of them.
Ginger and humans go back a very long way
The ginger plant itself (Zingiber officinale) is native to South East Asia, specifically mainly Indonesia, Malaysia and the Phillipines, but it rapidly travelled right around the world.
The very first people who are known to have used it and/or eaten it were the natives of these countries, the Austronesians – loosely the equivalent of ‘Pacific Islanders’ – originally from modern day Taiwan but now spread right across South East Asia and the Pacific Islands.
There is evidence of ginger being carried in their maritime trips as ‘canoe plants’ as far back as 5,000 years ago.
Ginger arrived in China around 2,300 years ago and reached the ancient Romans and Greeks as one of the key spices forming part of the spice trade. Today almost every type of cuisine around the world includes ginger in at least one or two local foods or drinks.
Ginger was also recognised as a ‘superfood’ – maybe not by that term – a very long time ago. It has been a part of traditional medicine in China for a long time and was carried on Chinese vessels to prevent scurvy at sea.
Today India is the largest producer of ginger in the world (and seventh largest exporter) and its ties to ginger also go back a long way, with Ayurvedic medicine recognising its health benefits thousands of years ago.
Health benefits
Despite the health benefits of ginger being recognised for a very long time in traditional medicine, modern medicine and current medical advice on ginger is generally peppered with the words ‘may’ or ‘possibly’ when talking about the effectiveness of ginger as a medicine. In many cases this is closely followed by the words ‘more research is necessary’.
Even so, there is some recognition (backed by research studies) that the main bioactive compound in ginger – gingerol – is a powerful anti-inflammatory antioxidant. As such ginger is most commonly used to…
- treat nausea
- help with weight loss
- treat arthritis
- lower blood sugar
- improve digestive health
- treat menstrual pain
- lower cholesterol levels
- help fight infections
Some research indicates that it may also be effective in reducing risk of cancer and protecting against cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
Compared to other so called superfoods it is not a heavy hitter – nutritionally ginger root has smaller amounts of nutrients and almost no micronutrients – it is mainly water (79%) with 18% carbohydrates, 2% protein and 1% fat, and contains potassium, magnesium, manganese and calcium.
But these small ‘deficiencies’ have not stopped it being relied upon for its medicinal benefits – and as an all round healthy food – by a sizeable portion of the human race for a long period of time!
And finally…
If you’ve not used fresh ginger in your cooking before, you may be wondering how to get the skin off since ginger roots are quite small and quite fiddly. That’s where a handy paring knife (like the one below!), a potato peeler and a spoon all come in handy.
The best way – apparently – is to use a paring knife to cut off the tough pieces of skin and then use a peeler to remove the rest of the skin. And if the ginger root is young – normally with a lighter coloured skin – you can forget the peeler and just remove the skin with a spoon.
Check out this video to see how it’s done.
Main image by Joseph Agboola on Unsplash
