Ginger Root, nature's aspirin

Ginger Spice – Not the spice girl- the other one.

After the holidays is the perfect time to whip your body into perfect health with Ayurveda. (Especially if you live in Southern California, where the weather apparently decided that January was a good time to kick start the summer season). You may have respected your seasonal diet with yams, potatoes and other winter appropriate foods, but I’m not sure sugary pumpkin pie is considered healthy according to Ayurveda! So whether you're still plowing snow out of the driveway or you're dealing with erratic bipolar weather, chances are you are more likely to get sick around this time. But fear not, my fellow health freaks: there is a solution, and a spicy one at that.

I would like to put the spotlight on one of my favorite winter remedies: Ginger! This is not your average Sushi joint ginger. Ginger is a tonic and stimulant. It is known to help reduce fever and cleanse the body of toxins. It also has blood thinning properties, inhibits cell-clotting enzymes in your blood stream, lowers cholesterol, and reduces migraine headaches. AND it does a better job at preventing and treating these dis-eases than aspirin (which is said to cause stomach problems and bleeding. Ew!). Ginger is also a great detoxifier and alkalizer (as opposed to acidic, diseases such as cancer cannot survive in an alkaline body). And finally, ginger helps with nausea, morning sickness, cramping, and sea sickness.
Ginger comes in two main types: fresh or dry. Fresh ginger is a root which, when sliced open, reveals a fresh, tangy and spicy flesh. Dry ginger is basically a dried up ginger root that has been ground into a thin powder. Fresh powder tends to be yellowish, while it whitens as it gets older. The two are assimilated differently into the body. In Ayurveda, fresh ginger is used for digestion and nausea, while powder ginger is used for colds and respiratory illnesses.

Whether I boil fresh ginger to make a soothing tea or whether I make a cold-killing concoction with ginger powder, I know I won’t be sick over the holidays. This is my personal remedy to avoid getting sick when I feel something coming on:
Fill a large glass of boiling water. Add one heaping teaspoon of organic ginger powder (or as much as you can handle). Squeeze half a lemon, stir and drink up! You may also add some raw honey to taste (do not cook the honey, or it will become toxic to the body). It may make your throat tingle, but it’s worth it! This power tea will help reinforce your immune system and help clear your lung and chest area. And, since ginger is a sweat-inducing spice, it can help reduce a fever and expel toxins from the body.

Fresh ginger is great for Kapha types because it is a pungent spice, it stimulates the system and helps decrease Kapha. It is also Vata-pacifying and aids with digestion. An Ayurvedic doctor once told me that drinking ginger tea before eating a meal will help your taste buds naturally select foods that your body needs at that moment. To make the G-rated version of the tea, take a piece of fresh ginger root and slice it with the skin still on. Then, boil it in water for 10 to 20 minutes (you can add more water as the water level decreases). Sift the tea as to not get ginger chunks in your tea cup and sip away. You can drink this version of the tea every day before meals to help you choose your foods wisely and to open up the appetite, or after meals to help you digest (especially if you're like me and you always end up with a slight stomach ache from being too full).

And finally, Ginger improves and reinforces the healing properties of other herbs. What more could you possibly want? Ginger is your first step to a healthy, balanced body.