Ginger, Zingiber officinalis
I promised a post about ginger, so here goes. It's not 5 am so I might not be as long winded, excited, or lucid in my writing as the previous post was.
I've been frequenting the site learningherbs.com, which is an amazing site for anyone that wants to start learning about and using plants as medicine but just doesn't know how. They have an entire section on cold remedies and cures, among the list, a recipe for tea that will boost your immune system and knock any cold or flu out of you. This recipe is really, really simple, so I'll paraphrase it here:
Grate some fresh ginger
Boil it in water for 20 minutes
Strain the tea into a cup
Add lemon juice and honey to taste
Drink
This kind of tea, where you boil the plant matter for a while, is called a decoction.
I already knew that ginger is a great tonic. It improves blood flow and warms the body up, both excellent things for anyone with bad circulation in the winter. Ginger is a diaphoretic, that is, it can help sweat a fever out to lower temperature.Because it helps blood flow, it can also help reduce headaches, and help wounds heal. Aside from that, it's also antibacterial and antiviral. Actually, learningherbs.com taught me that ginger tea itself, without the additions of lemon and honey, is great to pour over burns to take the heat out of them (although I wonder if the lemon would help, too. I know that lemon essential oil helps prevent scarring).
Many times herbalists will prescribe tablets or tinctures that are made up of several different plants mixed together, to achieve a certain goal. According to ranherbs.com, a wonderful site in Hebrew with monographs (detailed explanations and chemical analysis) of many, many medicinal herbs, ginger helps other herbs be absorbed into the body.
Of course, I can't talk about ginger without talking about its ability to reduce gassiness. Now, gas can be embarrassing, but it can also be incredibly painful. In addition, too much gas in the digestive system means that the system isn't working quite right and often isn't processing food right. Ginger can help the body absorb what it needs, while reducing gas.
Another trait that nearly everyone is familiar with, is the use of ginger for nausea, which is another reason why ginger tea is so great when you have a cold. Whenever I have post nasal drip, it manages to get all the way down to my stomach and make feel feel really awful and nauseous.
I've been having this low grade cold for about a month now (I'm not always good about treating myself). Not enough to really wear me down, just enough to feel a bit sick in the morning and then get over it. A couple of week ago though, there was one day where I just hurt all over, and I couldn't figure out why. At school they figure it must have been some sort of flu. All I know is that that was the final straw for me to try out the ginger tea recipe. I brewed up a really strong batch of ginger tea and drank as much of it as a could before going to bed. I don't know why it didn't keep me up, ginger is supposed to be a stimulant of sorts, but it didn't. I went to sleep, and the next morning I woke up feeling great! Nothing hurt me, I felt clear, and I felt better, emotionally, too. Ginger reduces inflammation, and is used to treat different types of arthritis! It's also great for muscle aches and pains. I use ginger essential oil for massaging sore or tight muscles. In any case, that morning was the point that I started being obsessed with ginger. By now I've made Chamomile Ginger Chai tea, and experimented with different combinations of herbs with ginger. I also saved the ginger I used for my decoctions, because why should I throw it out? It's still good. Some of it I reboiled, and some of it I froze. I just used up the frozen ginger making ginger-garlic-orange-honey chicken, which not only was delicious, but was great for the immune system and general health as well. I'll eventually get around to writing all about each of those ingredients and how they are good for you.
Ginger treats quite a wide range of complaints :)