Did you know about the major pitfalls of eating ginger?

Introduction: Ginger is an excellent health food that can stimulate appetite, aid digestion, promote blood circulation, dispel cold, and kill bacteria and detoxify... It is also an indispensable seasoning in cooking. However, ginger should not be eaten at any time. Eating it at the wrong time can cause unpredictable harm to the body. So, how should one eat ginger, in which season, and should it be eaten with the skin on? The answers are below.

　I. Eating Ginger in the Morning is Better Than Ginseng Soup

When it comes to the concept that food and medicine share the same origin, one thing cannot be overlooked: ginger. Ginger is truly a treasure bestowed upon humanity by heaven. How many kitchens in China are without ginger? And in Chinese medicine prescriptions, ginger is used as a sovereign, minister, assistant, or envoy ingredient time and again.

Confucius said, "Never remove ginger from the table," a true pearl of wisdom. In daily life, one cannot go a day without ginger. If anyone in the family, old or young, catches a chill, a bowl of ginger soup is immediately served. A little sweat to dispel the external cold, and the problem is solved. For a cold stomach and poor appetite, drinking ginger and red date tea for two days will warm the stomach and cure it. If you eat ginger for daily health maintenance, it must be at breakfast. This is what is meant by "Eating ginger in the morning is better than ginseng soup."

Ginger Milk Pudding

Eating ginger in the morning has the best health-preserving effect. The reason is that ginger is best at promoting the Yang energy of the Yangming meridian. Morning is when Qi and blood flow through the Yangming Stomach Meridian. Eating ginger at this time helps generate stomach Qi and promote digestion. Moreover, ginger's pungent and warm nature can accelerate blood circulation and has an invigorating effect.

How to eat it? The best way is to prepare a dish of pickled ginger for breakfast to go with congee. The texture of pickled young ginger is crisp and tender, with a hint of sourness, spiciness, and sweetness. Combined with the fragrance of the congee, it creates a subtly harmonious blend. It's simple and refreshing, yet upon savoring it, you find it to be a delicacy of the world. You can also boil a few slices of ginger with an appropriate amount of brown sugar to make ginger brown sugar water to drink. This is the most nourishing diet, with effects far surpassing ginseng soup.

II. Eating Ginger at Noon, Illness Comes

Many people know that ginger should not be eaten at night. In fact, it's not just at night; one should avoid ginger after noon. No ginger after noon, or it is easy to harm the lungs.

In Chinese health preservation, great emphasis is placed on adapting to the natural cycle. The Yang energy of nature reaches its peak at noon. After reaching its zenith, it must decline; in the afternoon, Yin energy begins to rise, and Yang energy begins to recede. Ginger generates Yang energy, so it is naturally not suitable for consumption after noon. At high noon, the Qi and blood of the Heart Meridian are at their strongest. Eating ginger at this time is like adding fuel to the fire for someone whose Heart Fire is already excessive. The Heart Fire will burn even more fiercely. When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer. Our lungs are these fish. Excessive Heart Fire will bring disaster to the lungs, causing symptoms like coughing, asthma, phlegm, and heat. "Eating ginger at noon, illness comes." Those with a Yin deficiency and excessive Fire constitution must remember this.

Red Date and Ginger Brown Sugar Water

III. Eating Ginger at Night, Meet King Yama

Why can't you eat ginger at night? Ginger promotes the dispersal of Yang energy. At night, the body should nourish Yin and收敛 (shōu liàn - gather in) Yang energy. Eating ginger is counterproductive and goes against the natural cycle. Eating ginger at this time has several major harms: First, it excites the person, making it difficult to sleep peacefully. Second, it stimulates the nerves and affects heart function. Third, it causes internal fire to accumulate, depletes Lung Yin, and damages Kidney water.

This alone is not enough to show that the harm of eating ginger at night is comparable to arsenic. The most critical reason is: people usually drink alcohol at night. If you use ginger dishes as a side for alcohol, it is a great harm! Eating ginger and alcohol together for a hundred days will rot the heart. Both ginger and alcohol are great heat-inducing substances. Ginger uses the power of alcohol to enter the meridians, and alcohol uses the nature of ginger to enter the organs. Using ginger dishes with alcohol at night is equivalent to taking a chronic poison. In folk anecdotes, there are stories of using ginger and alcohol to rot the lungs over a hundred days to murder someone. In fact, eating ginger and alcohol together harms more than just the lungs. Over time, all five organs and six bowels will be damaged. When it comes down to it, it is alcohol that harms people. It is better to quit alcohol for health than to fear ginger.

Stir-fried Fresh Squid with Ginger and Scallions

IV. Peel It? It Depends

In modern recipes, whenever ginger is used, it is invariably preceded by the three words: "ginger, peeled." Since when did ginger skin become so unpopular that people feel compelled to peel it off? In fact, ginger skin is by no means something that can be ignored. It is a traditional Chinese medicine in itself. Whether to eat it peeled or with the skin on depends on the specific situation. How to decide? It's very simple. Just remember one point: the skin and flesh of a plant are a pair of Yin and Yang. Ginger flesh is hot in nature, so ginger skin is cool in nature. Ginger flesh induces sweating, so ginger skin stops sweating. When you have a wind-cold, drinking ginger soup to induce sweating, it is naturally better to peel it. For daily ginger and red date tea to dispel cold, do not peel it. Generally, when cooking with ginger, you should eat it with the skin on to avoid an imbalance in nature.

Ginger Sauce Pork Tripe

V. Eat Ginger in Summer, and Cold Perishes

Summer is the best season to eat ginger. Among the four seasons, it doesn't matter if you don't eat ginger in the other three. But in summer, it's best to eat some. In summer, the weather is hot, and the body's pores are open. If the human body is compared to a fortress, summer is the time when the city gates are wide open and undefended. All kinds of external evils will take the opportunity to invade. Some may cause illness immediately, while others may lie dormant and only flare up in autumn and winter. Eating a little ginger at this time can protect you to pass the summer safely and not leave the roots of illness for autumn and winter. In summer, the weather is hot, and bacteria and viruses multiply in large numbers, making it easy for illness to enter through the mouth. Ginger is a natural antibacterial agent. If you have diarrhea or vomiting from eating unclean food, chewing a piece of ginger will work. When mixing cold dishes, add more ginger. It disinfects and kills bacteria, whets the appetite, and is best.

Mother Ginger Duck

Ginger is also an excellent remedy for summer heat. This may sound unbelievable, but think about the feeling of eating a spicy hot pot in the summer. When the weather is muggy and humid, you eat something spicy, sweat profusely, and exclaim, "What a relief!" Why? Because sweating dispels the summer heat. In ancient times, one method for treating heatstroke and fainting was to have the person drink some ginger juice.

For modern people, summer is not just about preventing heat stroke; it's also about preventing cold. Therefore, eating ginger in summer is even more important. This cold comes from two aspects: one is wind-cold. Sleeping with the air conditioner on at night allows cold to enter the pores. In the morning, you should quickly drink some ginger tea to remedy the situation. The second is internal cold injury. Now we have refrigerators, and in summer, many people drink a lot of frozen beverages. But in summer, the body's Yang energy is on the surface, and the inside is like an empty city. When you eat frozen things, all the organs are harmed. Eating a little ginger often to warm the stomach and prevent cold from accumulating and harming people is very necessary.

"Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, and you won't need a doctor to write prescriptions." This is a summary of ancient experience, a way of health preservation that adapts to the natural cycle. Using ginger skillfully in the summer can indeed have the effect of "treating winter diseases in the summer."

Ginger Sauce Chicken with Yellow Braised Sauce