"Eat radish in winter and ginger in summer, and you won't need a doctor's prescription". Since ancient times, TCM practitioners and folk wisdom have said that "ginger cures a hundred ailments". This is because ginger contains oily volatile oils such as gingerol, zingiberene, phellandrene, citral, and aromatic compounds; it also contains gingerol, resin, starch, and fiber. Therefore, ginger has excitatory, sweat-inducing, cooling, and refreshing effects during hot seasons; it can relieve symptoms such as fatigue, listlessness, loss of appetite, insomnia, bloating, and abdominal pain. Ginger also has the effect of strengthening the stomach and increasing appetite. In summer, the hot climate reduces the secretion of saliva and gastric juice, thus affecting people's appetite. If you eat a few slices of ginger with your meal, it will increase your appetite. Ginger can also alleviate or relieve stomach pain. For the pain, vomiting, acid reflux, and hunger caused by gastritis and gastric or duodenal ulcers, drinking water decocted with 50 grams of ginger can quickly eliminate the symptoms.
In summer, bacteria grow and reproduce unusually actively, easily contaminating food and causing acute gastroenteritis. However, eating some ginger appropriately or making a decoction with dried ginger and steeping it in boiling water can have a preventive and therapeutic effect. Scientists have discovered through research that ginger can act like certain antibiotics, especially against Salmonella. Ginger also has the effect of killing oral and intestinal pathogenic bacteria. Using ginger water as a mouthwash to treat bad breath and periodontitis has a significant therapeutic effect.
In summer, people tend to seek coolness and often use fans and air conditioners directly, which can easily expose them to wind and cold, causing colds and flu. At this time, drinking some ginger and brown sugar water in a timely manner will help expel the wind and cold from the body. TCM believes that ginger can "clear the mind and senses", meaning it can refresh and awaken the brain. In cases of summer heatstroke and fainting, administering a cup of ginger juice can quickly revive the patient. For general summer heat, manifested as dizziness, palpitations, chest tightness, and nausea, drinking some ginger soup is very beneficial.
There are many ways to eat ginger. For example, drink ginger soup, eat congee with ginger, add some shredded ginger when heating oil for cooking, add ginger slices when stewing meat or pan-frying fish, and add some minced ginger when making dumplings or wonton fillings. This not only makes the food delicious but also helps to refresh the stomach, whet the appetite, promote digestion, and aid the absorption of nutrients by the gastrointestinal tract.
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. Generally, fresh ginger can be washed and then sliced or shredded.
2. Those who suffer from yin deficiency with excessive fire, internal heat in the eyes, or have conditions such as carbuncles, sores, pneumonia, lung abscess, tuberculosis, stomach ulcers, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis, diabetes, or hemorrhoids should not consume ginger long-term.
3. From a therapeutic perspective, ginger and brown sugar water is only suitable for patients with colds caused by wind-cold or those with stomach cold and fever after being caught in the rain. It should not be used for 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 produces a highly toxic substance that can cause变性 (变性) and necrosis of liver cells, thereby inducing liver cancer, esophageal cancer, etc. The saying that "rotten ginger doesn't spoil the taste" is incorrect.
5. Eating ginger is not a case of "the more, the better". In summer, the weather is hot, and 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. You can just add a few slices of ginger when cooking or making soup.