Overview of ginger root

Physician Bui Dac Sang, Hanoi Oriental Medicine Association, said that ginger is a perennial herb with a lean rhizome and branches that spread out like a hand, bearing many shoots, from which grow stems 80-100 cm high. The leaves are lanceolate, 20-30 cm long, growing straight up, with yellow-green flowers, purple edges, and berries.

Ginger originated in India and Malaysia, and is now found in all tropical countries. In our country, ginger is grown everywhere. Since the Hung Kings' era (2879-287 BC), our ancestors used ginger with bird, fish, and turtle meat to keep them warm and help them digest easily. Since then, people have known how to use ginger, onions, garlic, chili, and perilla as daily spices to prevent diseases.

Ginger contains 2-3% essential oil, 5% oleoresin, 3.7% grease, starch, spicy substances (Zingeron, Zingerol, Sogal). Raw ginger (sinh khương) is spicy, slightly warm, has the effect of preventing cold, reducing phlegm, stopping vomiting, and aiding digestion. Burnt ginger (thần khương) treats stomachache, cold stomach, and diarrhea. Dried ginger (can khương) has the effect of dispelling cold, treating colds, and diarrhea. Ginger peel (khuong bi) has the effect of reducing edema (diuretic).

In Oriental medicine, ginger is an ingredient in many remedies for treating colds, expectorants, coughs, and stomachaches.

Medicinal remedies from ginger root

According to physician Bui Dac Sang, Hanoi Oriental Medicine Association, below are some medicinal recipes from ginger:

Use 7 slices of fresh ginger, 7 onions, a bowl of boiled water, drink hot, cover with a blanket to sweat to cure heatstroke, cold, windstroke or fever.

If you have a cold, use 7 slices of fresh ginger, a spoon of Chinese tea, a fresh lemon, a spoon of strong alcohol, a spoon of honey to boil and drink, to treat colds, coughs, and difficulty breathing.

Grill ginger thoroughly, peel, slice, swallow, and hold in mouth the juice to treat malaria and cough with phlegm. Boil fresh ginger in water to treat stomachache and bloating.

Fresh crushed ginger applied to treat trauma and chest pain. Many people have to go to work early in the morning, sometimes the poisonous wind makes them faint or tired.

To prevent wind poisoning, before going out you should drink a sip of good wine (or medicinal wine), or take a piece of ginger, chew and swallow it slowly.

Above are some remedies from ginger. Ginger is a healthy and very cheap spice. Don’t ignore this cheap spice.