It is well-known that ginger can be used as medicine, but when and how to use it requires careful consideration. In classic famous formulas, this common ingredient in cooking and soups is given a very important role.
For treating a cold, it must be used only when there is no sore throat.
The most familiar use of ginger is for treating colds. From the traditional "brown sugar ginger water" to today's "cola ginger soup," regardless of the type, there must be one prerequisite: this cold must not be accompanied by a sore throat, let alone red and swollen tonsils. If you drink ginger soup under these latter two conditions, the sore throat will worsen, and it could even fan the flames into a raging fire.
Principle: Because ginger is warm in nature and rather drying, a cold accompanied by a sore throat is at least a mix of cold and heat, or even caused by wind-heat. In such a case, even if there is a fever, the exterior-releasing medicine should not be warm and drying. This is not just for ginger; herbs like Schizonepeta (Jingjie) and Apricot Kernel (Xingren) are also unsuitable. Therefore, "Ganmao Qingre Keli" (Cold-Relieving Granules), which is composed of such herbs, is a major contraindication for treating a cold when there is a sore throat. If you want to use food therapy, scallions are the maximum you should use. Scallions can also release the exterior and induce sweating, but while they are warm, their nature is moist. This is why eating too much ginger can lead to "heatiness" (上火), but eating a lot of scallions rarely does.
For treating edema, ginger must be eaten with its skin.
When we use ginger in cooking, we usually peel it. In fact, meticulous chefs often require it to be used with the skin. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), when ginger is used as a medicine to treat edema, it must also be used with the skin, or even just the ginger skin itself is used.
There is a famous formula called "Wu Pi Yin" (Five-Peel Decoction) that treats various types of edema, including edema from nephritis, pregnancy, menstruation, and even ascites. It contains 9g of dried tangerine peel, 24g of Poria skin, 6g of ginger skin, 9g of white mulberry root bark, and 9g of areca peel. It works by strengthening the spleen to promote urination and reduce swelling.
Principle: In TCM, it is believed that these five peels can address issues related to the body's surface and skin. Besides edema, it is also used for urticaria (hives) on the skin, and many famous doctors use this formula as a base. Therefore, if you want to use ginger to release the exterior and induce sweating, especially for a newly caught cold or to treat external ailments, the ginger must be used with its skin.
For treating body pain, a sufficient amount of ginger must be used.
Mr. Liu Duzhou, a renowned expert on the study of "Shang Han Lun" (Treatise on Cold Damage), once led his students to the countryside to provide medical services during the "Cultural Revolution." A woman, more than 20 days postpartum, suffered from unbearable body pain due to exposure to cold. After childbirth, her qi and blood were deficient, allowing cold to invade. The previous doctors understood this and had used various qi-tonifying and blood-nourishing formulas, but none were effective. Liu's student, following his instructions, used "Guizhi Xin Jia Tang" (Cinnamon Twig Decoction with Additions) from the Shang Han Lun, but it was also ineffective.
Liu asked: "How much ginger was used in the formula?" The student replied: "Because I was worried that too much ginger would be too spicy and the patient couldn't drink it, I only used 3 small slices." When Liu modified the formula, he kept all other herbs the same but increased the ginger to 15g. As a result, the patient's pain was greatly reduced after two doses and was cured after three doses.
Principle: Liu explained that the qi-tonifying and blood-nourishing herbs must be propelled to the body's surface by ginger. If the amount of ginger is insufficient, the blood-nourishing herbs cannot reach the site of the illness, and the pain naturally becomes difficult to eliminate. This was the reason why the previous doctors, and even the student later who added ginger to the blood-nourishing herbs, saw no effect. Looking back at Zhang Zhongjing's original formula: Cinnamon Twig 3 liang, Peony Root 4 liang, Licorice Root 2 liang, Ginger 4 liang, Jujube 12 pieces, and Ginseng 3 liang (these are ancient dosages), the amount of ginger used was the largest.
Therefore, ginger is suitable for treating body pain. If you have body pain from a cold but your constitution is very strong, it is best to use old ginger, so-called "jiang mu" (姜母). "Jiang mu" has a long growth cycle and its dispelling power is stronger than that of regular ginger. This is the same principle as increasing the dosage of ginger. If the constitution is inherently weak, "jiang mu" is not suitable because they cannot withstand such strong dispelling effects.