Since the end of 2020, due to the epidemic, weather and other reasons, the price of three seasoning ingredients that are indispensable in daily life, such as onion, ginger and garlic, has fluctuated significantly. The news of "Xiang Qian onion", "Jiang You Jun", and "Garlic You Fierce" frequently appeared in the newspapers.
Despite repeated price increases, there is still no way to stop people's enthusiasm for buying. First, because they are used as condiments, the daily dosage is not large, even if it is more expensive, the impact is not large. On the other hand, in addition to the good effect on seasoning, they are also very good for the body. Let's talk about ginger today.
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The history of eating ginger in the mainland can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Warring States period 3,000 years ago, and there is such a record of ginger in the "Spring and Autumn of Lü's": "The beauty of peace, there is Yangpu's ginger" praises the taste of ginger, indicating that people have begun to eat ginger at that time.
Confucius's Analects also mentions ginger, which means that "every meal does not withdraw ginger, do not eat much", which means that there is ginger at every meal, and you cannot eat too much. Later generations generally believe that Confucius's death at the age of 73 in the war-torn years is very related to his daily eating habits.
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There is a folk proverb: "Eat radish in winter and eat ginger in summer, don't need Mr. to prescribe medicine", which is the ancients' affirmation of the edible value of ginger. So what are the health benefits of ginger from the perspective of modern medicine?
Health function of ginger
Ginger is rich in nutrients, in addition to sugars, fats, proteins, fiber, vitamins, minerals, but also its unique ginger volatile oil, gingerol and diphenylheptane compounds.
Ginger volatile oil is a volatile oil extracted from the roots and stems of ginger, because of its rich aroma, it is often used in food processing, such as instant noodle seasoning buns, stewed fish stew meat buns, etc. In addition, it can also be used as a raw material for the production of medicine and cosmetics.
Gingerol is the general term for all spicy substances in ginger, and is also the main active ingredient in ginger, including gingerol, ginger alcohol and ginger ketones, etc. The most abundant content is ginger phenol, which has its own different biological effects.
Gingerol antibacterial also choleretic
Experiments have shown that gingerol in ginger can enhance the activity of lysozyme in serum and has an antibacterial effect. In the summer, the weather is hot, and if the food is not well preserved, it is easily contaminated by bacteria such as Salmonella. One of the reasons why summer eats ginger is that ginger has a certain antibacterial effect on these common digestive tract pathogens.
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Helicobacter pylori is a common pathogen in the digestive system and is associated with chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and the occurrence of gastric cancer. Studies have shown that the ginger phenols in ginger have obvious inhibitory effects on 19 strains of Helicobacter pylori, and have a definite effect on the prevention and treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection.
In addition, the spicy taste of gingerol stimulates the oral mucosa and gastrointestinal tract, which can cause the secretion of saliva and gastrointestinal digestive juices, enhance appetite and promote rhythmic peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract, and have the effect of preventing nausea and antiemeticity.
For people with motion sickness, eating a small amount of ginger juice half an hour before riding in the car, or having a slice of ginger in your mouth, can alleviate the discomfort caused by motion sickness to a certain extent.
Ginger also has the effect of preventing gallbladder stones, and the gingerol, gingerol and ginger dione in gingerol are used in gingerol. They can inhibit the formation of gallstones by inhibiting the synthesis of prostaglandins and reducing the mucin content in the bile. On the other hand, the oil component in ginger can promote the excretion of bile and reduce bile accumulation.
In the "Compendium of Materia Medica", Li Shizhen described ginger as "warm and stop vomiting, benefit the spleen and stomach", which is also an affirmation of the positive effect of ginger on the digestive system.
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Gingerol is cardiovascular
Ginger contains ginger alcohol oily substances, which can inhibit the body's absorption of cholesterol and reduce the content of cholesterol in the serum, thereby playing a role in lowering blood lipids and anti-arteriosclerosis.
Studies have found that 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol and 10-gingerol in gingerol can increase the uptake of calcium ions in the endoplasmic reticulum in cardiomyocytes, thereby enhancing myocardial contractility and having a cardiotonic effect.
Ginger can also promote blood circulation through the excitatory effect on the center. Experiments have shown that after normal adults take 1 g of ginger and chew, the systolic blood pressure can be increased by 11.2 mmHg, and the diastolic blood pressure can be increased by 14 mmHg, indicating that it has a boosting effect. For people with low blood pressure, it can be improved by chewing a small amount of ginger.
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Ginger is also anti-aging
The body produces free radicals in metabolism, which is an active and unhealthy substance that destroys normal cellular structures through attacks on cell membranes, causing damage to tissues and organs, leading to disease.
The disruption of protein structure by free radicals can lead to barriers to their expression (i.e., genetic mutations), which can trigger neoplastic diseases. Free radicals are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons, which react with unsaturated fatty acids in cell membranes to produce "ester brown pigment", which is gradually deposited on tissues such as skin, which is the aging process of the human body.
Ginger in the ginger and diphenylheptane substances, with phenolic hydroxyl, hydroxyl and double bond structure, can bind to free radicals, inhibit their reaction with cell membranes, reduce the production of liposcin pigment, thereby playing an antioxidant and anti-aging role.
Studies have shown that gingerol is more effective than vitamin E in fighting free radicals.
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Ginger can also be used for pain relief
The gingerol in ginger not only has an antibacterial effect, but also has an analgesic effect. In animal experiments, it can be seen that injecting fresh ginger injection into mice that cause artificial pain can significantly inhibit the pain of mice.
Some medical experts pointed out that ginger contains ginger alcohol, gingerene, citral and other ingredients can treat toothache, just bite a small piece of ginger in the painful part of the tooth, can relieve the pain.
There was a study in Denmark on ginger relieving rheumatoid arthritis pain. The study selected 7 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who took 5 grams of ginger per day, or 0.5-1.5 grams of ginger powder, for 3 consecutive months.
The results showed that ginger could reduce pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as well as reduce joint swelling and improve joint mobility. However, the sample size of this study is too small, the specific research method is unknown, and its accuracy needs to be further examined.
Ginger can also "drive away the cold", if the external cold caused a cold, you can cook a bowl of brown sugar ginger soup water, there is also a good effect. In addition, there are some foreign studies that show that gingerol has a certain effect in lowering blood sugar and anti-tumor.
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In daily life, ginger is a seasoning ingredient that is almost used in cooking every day, so what should we pay attention to when eating ginger?
Eating ginger is also exquisite
Ginger can be divided into fresh ginger and slightly longer ginger, young ginger is suitable for raw food, cold mix, stir-fry, and ginger's spicy taste, strong aroma is more suitable for fishy use.
Do you have to peel ginger?
Chinese medicine believes that ginger has a spicy taste and a slight temperature, while ginger skin is cool, and they have different medicinal properties. As for eating ginger to peel or not, it also varies from person to person. People who have a weak spleen and stomach and avoid eating cold can remove the skin when eating ginger. Ginger with skin is more suitable for people with heavy moisture and strong internal fire, and has the effect of diuretic swelling and fire removal.
Don't eat rotten ginger
Ginger once bore the insult of "harmful ginger" because it contained a substance called "safrole". The cause stems from a study published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): "Long-term intake of safrole can lead to the development of liver cancer." "In fact, the amount of safrole in ginger is very small, far from carcinogenic levels. So the argument that eating ginger causes cancer is wrong.
However, in rotten ginger, the content of safrin will be greatly increased, and rotten food is likely to have aspergillus aflatoxin (also a toxic carcinogen), so if the ginger has rotted, it should be thrown away decisively and cannot be eaten again.
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How ginger is preserved
Ginger is an indispensable ingredient in every household, but it is used as a condiment, and because the amount is very small each time, it often happens that a piece of ginger bought is moldy or rotten without being used several times. Ginger is indeed not easy to save, here are a few tips for ginger preservation.
Dried ginger is easy to preserve
This method is suitable for ginger that is not used.
Place the ginger in a cool, dry place for ventilation, and after the moisture on the surface of the ginger has completely evaporated, wrap it in a clean paper towel and refrigerate it.
In this method, paper towels act as desiccants and can prolong the storage time of ginger. If the number of ginger pieces is large, you can wrap them in paper towels, put them in a plastic bag, and then put them in the refrigerator to save.
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Oxygen-isolated ginger is preserved longer
This method can isolate ginger from moisture and oxygen in the air, reduce various chemical reactions, and slow down the germination process of ginger itself.
First of all, it is also necessary to remove the moisture on the surface of the ginger, wrap the dried ginger in tin foil, and try to fit the package as closely as possible according to the shape of the ginger to reduce the oxygen that remains. Ginger preserved in this way can generally be used for 1 month.
In addition to using tin foil, dried ginger can also be put into rice buckets or rice boxes containing rice, and burying it in rice can also effectively isolate the air and facilitate ginger preservation.
At the same time, the spicy taste of ginger also has the effect of repellent insects, which can not only extend the shelf life of ginger, but also avoid rice worms, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.
How is used ginger preserved?
For ginger that has been cut and used, a small amount of table salt can be applied to the cut surface, which can play a role in sterilization. After that, the ginger is wrapped in plastic wrap to isolate the air and stored in the refrigerator. You can also use a plastic bag, but be careful to drain the air in the bag.
In the low temperature environment, ginger is not easy to mold and long buds, but too low temperature will reduce or even disappear the spicy taste of ginger, so it is generally recommended to refrigerate 4-8 degrees.
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Ginger has many benefits as a medicinal and food dual-use ingredient, and there are many legends and stories of using ginger to cure diseases in history. However, from the perspective of modern medicine, the efficacy of ginger should also be rationally viewed, it can be used for daily health care consumption, but it cannot be used as a means of treating diseases.
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Lu Qiuli. Ginger and Health Care[J].Secondary School Chemistry Teaching Reference, 2005, 6: 54-55
Zhang Yingfeng,Ma Zichuan. Composition and application of ginger[J].Chemistry Teaching,2012,8:73-80
Anon. Don't do it, don't break it, eat as you go! Ginger preservation, these 5 tricks are super easy to use [EB/OL].CCTV Finance, 2020-09-06