Should You Take Ginger Every Day?

A spicy dose a day could stave off health problems. We are testing the trend.

At the very least, ginger injections can cure stomach upset. But recent studies suggest the humble root can do much more.

Anyone who has cracked open a cold ginger ale on a bumpy plane ride knows that ginger has a unique, soothing spiciness.

Ginger is a tropical plant that produces a multitude of large, colorful flowers. For more than 5,000 years, people have used its brown, gnarled root as both food and medicine. Ginger was a highly sought after and expensive commodity throughout the Roman Empire and medieval Europe.

Ginger’s enduring popularity is rooted in the wide range of conditions it is believed to treat, from digestive issues to migraines. Credible studies have shown that it may even prevent cancer. I’m a fairly recent convert to juicing at home. I love tossing produce that’s about to go bad into my machine for a fresh juice at breakfast, and I was curious if adding a daily ginger shot to my routine during a week would make a noticeable difference from how I typically felt. my day.

DIY ginger

I will note here that you don’t need a juicer to make ginger shots. You can also peel the root, throw it in a blender and strain it with a sieve or cheesecloth. Whether you’re juicing or blending, prep and cleanup take a few minutes, so I recommend making them in batches. The shots keep well in the refrigerator for about three days. I made my shots with ginger alone, but you can also add roots like turmeric for an extra boost of antioxidants, or fruits like apple or lemon for flavor.

I started my week with a trip to the produce aisle, where I picked up enough ginger root to last a week, three huge chunks for just four dollars. This price seemed particularly good to me later that day when, at the trendy coffee shop on my street, I saw individual bottled shots on sale for five dollars.

The first morning of my new routine, I decided to have the shot as a sort of breakfast appetizer after my coffee, eggs, and toast. The spiciness of the shot would have been a bit over the top before or during my meal, and it definitely woke me up. The heat resides more in the nose and throat than something like a hot pepper. It was intense enough that I let out a loud whoa! Quite an invigorating way to start the day.

Significant advantages?

Ginger has been shown to regulate appetite, in part because it reacts thermally with the foods we eat. This means we feel fuller for longer. For this reason, it can be useful for people who want to lose weight. I noticed this effect right away. I felt like it kept me from delving into hungry territory, as I sometimes do if I get wrapped up in work and don’t eat lunch on time.

A few days later, I had seasonal allergies. I still had allergies all day, but my morning ginger shot seemed really satisfying. The heat passing through my nose and sinuses made the congestion feel like it was burning away. Allergies are a type of inflammation, so it makes sense that consistently taking an anti-inflammatory like ginger can help relieve allergy symptoms as well as an over-the-counter medication like Claritin.

A few mornings a week I like to go straight to my run. I don’t like to eat a big breakfast before doing cardio, so on those days I usually stick to a quick coffee and a banana before heading out. Adding a shot of ginger to this combo felt like it took some of the jitters out of coffee on a fairly empty stomach, and the intense shot put me in the right mood to go hard when I reached the track. During my workout, I was energetic and focused.

As a runner, I’m always looking for ways to manage muscle pain. So I was interested to learn that regular consumption of ginger root has been shown to be an effective way to manage long-term pain in athletes. It would take more than a week to know if a daily ginger diet could mitigate the effects of a long training run, but since I can’t seem to stop signing up for road races, I’m curious to see if ginger shots are effective and a safer alternative to medications like ibuprofen.

The verdict

While ginger acts immediately as an appetite suppressant and aids digestion, many of its most effective medicinal qualities seem to require consistent, long-term consumption. However, after just one week of daily squeezing ginger, I learned that I enjoyed the taste and experience of the shots enough to continue doing them regularly. In my opinion, the amount of compelling evidence supporting its anti-cancer properties also makes it a habit worth adopting. Four dollars a week seems like a small price to pay for a substance that could prevent tumors from growing.

Either way, this spicy, comforting drink must be a much healthier way to get your heart rate up in the morning than checking social media.