Ginger comes to us from the depths of Asia, south of India and China, and also from the ages, since it has been consumed for more than 5000 years for its extraordinary taste and surprising health properties. Customize a dip, a mayo, a clafoutis, a fruit salad, a chocolate mousse, it’s for him!
The boss of healthy spices
Its scent, both fresh and spicy, allows you to limit the use of salt or sugar, depending on the recipes. “Ginger helps control blood sugar levels (blood sugar levels), a valuable asset if you are in overweight, diabetic or hypertensive “, lists Raphaël Gruman, nutritionist. Thanks to its anti-inflammatory molecules (shogaols, gingerols and paradols), it relieves rheumatism, migraine, irritable bowel, stomach ache … “
Traditionally consumed after meals, it stimulates bile and digestive enzymes. However, to digest well, it is also more vitality. And then, goodbye nausea! Including after surgery, in case of hangover, in children or in pregnant women. Escop (European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy), a European organization aiming to promote phytotherapy, recommends it in this indication, especially since it is harmless in pregnancy. It is, finally, the anti-motion sickness par excellence.
In the morning, fresh grated ginger infused in place of tea or Coffee, it changes and it awakens just as much! You can also slip a piece of it into a juicer with our usual fruits for a juice enriched with active molecules (be careful, it stings!). Mental, physical and sexual stimulant, digestive and anti-bloating, blood thinner, anti-headache, it combines the “hot” reasons to invite itself in the menus of lovers. In addition, its gingerols boost male fertility (more active spermatozoa).
Detox side, it increases our levels of glutathione, an antioxidant protein that cleanses our body. Finally, its gingerols would have anticancer virtues (fresh) and its shogaols (dried), anti-Alzheimer.
How do we eat it?
- Costs : Chopped or grated as an infusion, simmered dish, soup, dessert, liqueur. It is the richest in gingerols, with a fresh and lemony taste. During cooking, they turn into zingerone, which is more discreet. It is easily stored in a cool place in an airtight box. You can also freeze it and grate it as needed. Or marinate it in thin slices in a mixture of vinegar, rice and sugar. It then becomes the “gari”, served with Japanese sushi.
- Confit: A sweet and very spicy treat, to eat as is or to cut into small cubes and slip into a cake batter. With
- apples and pears are so good!
- In powder : During its drying, in the air (gray ginger) or in the sun (white ginger), its gingerols are transformed into shogaols, more pungent compounds. Convenient to flavor pan-fried vegetables or soups.
Read also :
- The health benefits of Japanese cuisine
- Slimming: the advantages of Japanese cuisine
- Ginger, a great tonic
