Everyone knows that ginger is a very common cooking condiment in our lives, of course, it is also a traditional Chinese medicine. Ginger is warm in nature and pungent in taste, and it affects the spleen and lung meridians. It has effects such as inducing sweat to release the exterior, warming the middle jiao to strengthen the spleen, stopping cough and vomiting, and warming the lungs to strengthen the heart. So why does the saying "ginger causes cancer" circulate? It turns out to be the wrong way of eating ginger!
Can eating ginger incorrectly cause cancer?
In addition to common nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, ginger also contains many special nutrients, such as phytoantibiotics with bactericidal effects, volatile oils that inhibit cholesterol absorption, and gingerol with antioxidant effects. However, it is worth noting that besides the several nutrients beneficial to human health mentioned above, ginger also contains a component called safrole.
Safrole is a food additive, a colorless or pale yellow liquid with a camphor-like odor. It naturally exists in spices such as ginger, fennel, star anise, cinnamon, and Sichuan peppercorns. It is low in toxicity and can be carcinogenic at certain levels. Therefore, excessive consumption of ginger may increase the risk of cancer, especially liver cancer.
A study showed that safrole can cause liver cancer. By adding 0.04% to 1% safrole to the feed of mice for 150 days to 2 years, liver cancer can be induced in the mice. If safrole encounters an oxidant in the body, it will produce safrole oxide, which has stronger carcinogenic activity, and also significantly increases the likelihood of human liver cancer. Therefore, in the usual cooking process, you must use ginger in moderation and avoid unlimited use.
However, fresh fruits and vegetables can effectively inhibit the combination of safrole and oxidants, thereby reducing the probability of safrole being converted into safrole oxide and reducing the carcinogenic effect of safrole. Therefore, after eating ginger, be sure to eat more fruits and vegetables. So don't worry too much about the carcinogenic factors of ginger, because vegetables can inhibit them!
Precautions for eating ginger
Although ginger has many benefits, we also need to be careful not to eat too much. Excessive ginger consumption can lead to a large amount of gingerol being absorbed by the digestive system and excreted by the kidneys, which can irritate the kidneys and cause symptoms such as dry mouth, sore throat, and constipation.
Generally, people with excessive internal heat should eat less ginger, as it is not good for their health. Those with yin deficiency and excessive fire, red eyes and internal heat, or suffering from carbuncles, sores, abscesses, pneumonia, lung abscess, tuberculosis, gastric ulcers, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis, diabetes, or hemorrhoids should not consume ginger for a long time.
Ginger has a certain effect on treating colds caused by wind-cold, but it is not effective for some heat-related colds. From a therapeutic perspective, ginger brown sugar water is only suitable for patients with wind-cold colds or those who have caught a cold in the rain and have a cold stomach and fever. It cannot be used for summer heat colds or wind-heat colds, nor can it be used to treat heatstroke. Fresh ginger juice can be used to treat vomiting caused by cold, but it is not suitable for other types of vomiting.
If the ginger has rotted, we should note that it is best not to eat it. Do not eat rotten ginger. Rotten ginger produces a highly toxic substance that can cause degeneration and necrosis of liver cells, thus inducing liver cancer, esophageal cancer, etc. The saying that "rotten ginger doesn't taste rotten" is wrong.
Eating ginger is not always better
In the hot summer weather, people are prone to dry mouth, irritability, thirst, sore throat, and excessive sweating. Ginger is pungent and warm in nature, and belongs to the category of "hot" foods. According to the principle of "treating heat with cold," it should not be eaten in large quantities. Just add a few slices of ginger when cooking or making soup.