Ginger is a popular ingredient in cooking, and especially in Asian and Indian cuisine. It has also been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes.
Young ginger rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or cooked as an ingredient in many dishes. They can be steeped in boiling water to make ginger herb tea, to which honey may be added.
Ginger contains anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties and is known to sweat out toxins from the body. The phenolic compounds in ginger are known to help relieve gastrointestinal (GI) irritation, stimulate saliva and bile production and suppress gastric contractions as food and fluids move through the GI tract.
To make ginger tea at home, slice 20 to 40 grams of fresh ginger and steep it in a cup of hot water. Adding a slice of lemon or a drop of honey adds flavour and additional benefits, including vitamin C and antibacterial properties. This makes a soothing natural remedy for a cold or flu.
A study published in Cancer Prevention Research journal reported that ginger supplements reduced the risk of colorectal cancer developing in the bowel of 20 volunteers.
When buying fresh ginger, look for a root with smooth, taut skin, with no wrinkles, and a spicy aroma.
The many health benefits of tomatoes can be attributed to their wealth of nutrients and vitamins, including an impressive amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K, as well as significant amounts of vitamin B6, folate, and thiamin. Tomatoes are also a good source of potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, and copper. Tomatoes also have dietary fibre and protein, as well as a number of organic compounds like lycopene that also contribute to the overall health benefits that tomatoes can confer to our health!
Tomato contains a large amount of lycopene, an antioxidant that is highly effective in scavenging cancer-causing free radicals. A single tomato can provide about 40% of the daily vitamin C requirement. Topical application of tomato juice is even known to cure severe sunburns. Daily consumption of tomatoes protects the skin against UV-induced erythema. Tomatoes rank high in the preparation of anti-ageing products.
According to The Reams Biological Ionization Theory (RBTI), the lemon is the ONLY food in the world that is anionic (an ion with a negative charge). All other foods are cationic (the ion has a positive charge.) This makes it extremely useful to health as it is the interaction between anions and cations that ultimately provides all cell energy.
“The lemon is a wonderful stimulant to the liver and is a dissolvent of uric acid and other poisons, liquefies the bile,” says Jethro Kloss in his book Back to Eden. Fresh lemon juice added to a large glass of water in the morning is a great liver detoxifier. Lemons contain 22 anti-cancer compounds, including naturally occurring limonene; oil which slows or halts the growth of cancer tumours in animals and flavonol glycosides which stop cell division in cancer cells. Lemons are rich in vitamin C and flavonoids that work against infections like the flu and colds.
Ginger is a popular ingredient in cooking, and especially in Asian and Indian cuisine. It has also been used for thousands of years for medicinal purposes.
