How Healthy Is Ginger?

According to research, ginger is one of the healthiest spices on the planet. It is loaded with nutrients and bioactive compounds, beneficial for both your mind and body. Whether you are drinking it through tea, or adding this spice to your favorite dishes and smoothies, here are five good-for-you health benefits of ginger.

1. Combats tummy troubles.

Belonging to the Zingiberaceae family — closely related to turmeric, cardamom and galangal – this flowering plant, which originated in China, is often used as a form of alternative medicine to treat conditions such as nausea (think morning sickness), common flu and cold symptoms and digestion woes, to name a few.

Its powerful anti-inflammatory properties have also been linked to the “prevention and/or treatment of various diseases,” a 2014 study said.

2. Reduces pain and soreness.

If you regularly hit the gym and in turn, experience exercise-induced muscle pain (or soreness), you may consider looking to ginger root as a natural pain reliever.

Though the spice doesn’t have an immediate impact, in one study, people who consumed two grams of ginger a day, for 11 days, saw significantly reduced muscle pain while performing elbow exercises.

3. Counters motion sickness.

Taking one gram of dried, powdered, encapsulated ginger at least 30 minutes before travel can help calm motion sickness.

While studies concerning ginger’s impact on motion sickness are mixed. One study found ginger to be as effective, as dimenhydrinate (Dramamine) – but with fewer side effects. Other findings indicate that, when taken in addition to anti-nausea meds, the spice further reduces nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.

4. Reduces risk of heart disease.

In a recent 2015 study of 41 participants with type 2 diabetes, two grams of ginger powder per day lowered fasting blood sugar by 12 percent.

It also dramatically improved HbA1c (a marker for long-term blood sugar levels), leading to a