It is a popular saying that "ginger cures a hundred ailments." This is because ginger contains oily volatile substances such as gingerol, zingiberene, phellandrene, and citral, as well as gingerol, resin, starch, and fiber. Therefore, ginger has effects such as invigorating the spirit and promoting sweating to lower the body temperature in hot weather, and can alleviate symptoms like fatigue, lack of energy, loss of appetite, insomnia, abdominal bloating, and stomach pain.
Ginger also has the effect of strengthening the stomach and increasing appetite. In hot weather, the secretion of saliva and gastric juice decreases, which affects a person's appetite. If you eat a few slices of ginger with your meal, it can help increase your appetite.
There are many ways to eat ginger, such as drinking ginger soup, eating congee with ginger, adding some shredded ginger when heating oil for stir-frying, adding ginger slices when stewing meat or frying fish, and adding minced ginger when making dumpling or wonton fillings. This not only makes the food more delicious but also helps to invigorate the stomach, refresh the mind, promote appetite, aid digestion, and help the gastrointestinal tract absorb nutrients. However, since ginger has medicinal properties, some of its uses and contraindications should be noted. The following points should be paid attention to:
1. Do not peel it. Some people like to peel ginger when eating it, but doing so prevents ginger from exerting its full effects. Fresh ginger should be washed and then sliced or shredded.
2. Those who suffer from yin deficiency with blazing fire, red and inflamed eyes with internal heat, or have conditions such as carbuncles, sores, pneumonia, lung abscess, tuberculosis, stomach ulcers, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis, diabetes, or hemorrhoids should not consume ginger for a long period.
3. 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 suffer from stomach cold and fever. It should not be used for patients with summer heat colds or wind-heat colds, nor for treating heatstroke. Fresh ginger juice can be used to treat vomiting caused by cold exposure, but it is not suitable for other types of vomiting.
4. Do not eat rotten ginger. Rotten ginger can produce a highly toxic substance that can cause degeneration and necrosis of liver cells, inducing liver cancer, esophageal cancer, and others. The saying that "rotten ginger doesn't spoil the taste" is unscientific.
5. Eating ginger is not a case of "the more, the better." In the hot summer, people are prone to dry mouth, irritability and thirst, sore throat, and excessive sweating. Ginger is pungent and warm in nature, and is considered a "heaty" food. According to the principle of "treating heat with cold," it should not be eaten in large quantities. Just adding a few slices of ginger when cooking or making soup is sufficient.