Called Zingiber Officinale, ginger is a perennial plant widely cultivated in Asia for its aromatic, pungent rhizome (underground stem) used as a spice, flavouring food and medicine. Its use in India and China has been known from ancient times and by the first century AD traders had taken ginger to the Mediteranean region.
The spice has a pleasant, slightly biting taste, and is usually dried and ground to flavour breads, sauces, curry dishes, confectionaries, pickles and ginger ale. The fresh rhizome is used in cooking. The peeled rhizomes may be preserved by boiling in syrup. It acts as digestive, carminative, stomachic, anti-pyreutic, generates heat, expels flatus and cough, purifies blood and is invigorating. It is recommended in atonic dyspepsia, chronic bronchial cough and palpitation of heart. It is corrective to nauseous medicines and analgesic. It checks griping due to purgative and is needed as flavouring agent.
Ginger as the cure of ailments
Cold Cough and Asthma
Take 1 tsp mixture of ginger juice, garlic juice, honey and lick two to three limes a day to get relief from bronchial congestion. Prepare the pill in the following way: take 10 gms. each of dry ginger (saunth), black ginger and 100 gms. jaggery (old) and grind them to a paste form and then make pea-sized pills. Suck this pill 4 to 6 times every day to get relief in chest and stomach congestion due to excess of phlegm in the body. Heated ginger juice with honey (1 tsp) each 3 times a day for few days to get cure from cough and relief in Asthma. 10 gms. of ginger pieces boiled in water and taken with sugar and diluted tea cures cold and cough.
Digestive Problems
Taking 2 tsp of juice of ginger, fresh lemon and honey in equal quantity early in the morning helps in digestion, increases appetite and improves blood circulation.
6 gms. of ginger pieces with sendha namak taken before meals for 10 days relieves flatulence.
Powder of dry ginger, asafoetida and sendha namak taken after meals quickly relieves flatulence.
Having small pieces of fresh ginger fried in pure ghee with little salt twice a day cures indigestion. Taking 1 tsp.’Churna’ ([finely powdered saunth or dry ginger, ajwain and black pepper (10 gms. each)]. Keep green cardamom (chhoti ilaichee), sugar candy (5 gms.) finely powdered and preserved in a bottle. Taking little of it after meals cures most of the stomach and digestive problems caused by gas.
Prepare decoction by boiling pieces of ginger, Dhania seeds, little of cumin seeds, 8-10 kismis (raisins) in 150 ml water till it is reduced to half of its original quality. Now strain the potion with the addition of sugar candy. This is especially potent to cure problems related to biliousness.
Drinking milk with pieces of ginger boiled in it eliminates intestinal problem.
Diarrhoea and water based disorders
Taking a few pieces of ginger boiled in water and drinking this water with munching the ginger pieces cures the problem of loose motions.
No matter how severe is the problem of hiccoughs disturbing you, just chew a few bits of fresh ginger and you would get relief immediately.
Hoarseness and voice problems
Taking half teaspoonful ginger juice with honey 3 to 4 times a day cures hoarseness of throat. Another very efficacious treatment is the following. Make a hole in ginger and fill it with little heenga (asafoetida). Wrap this in a cloth and heat it. After grinding it make a small ball like peas and take this tablet 4 to 5 times a day. It cures hoarseness of throat quickly.
Influenza
Make the decoction in the following way. Take 3 gms. of dry ginger, 7 Tulsi leaves (read complete information on medicinal properties of Tulsi herb), 7 black pepper seeds boiled in 250 gms. water with sugar to take. Taking this fluid a few times a day cures cold, cough, headache and brings quick relief in influenza cases. To get relief in case of accumulated sputum, take half tsp of dried saunth with a little of sendha namak three or four times a week. To cure ribs’ pain take dry ginger’s decoction obtained by boiling 20 gms. of saunth in ½ kg. of water and drink it 3 to 4 times a day.
Back-ache due to menstrual disorder
Prepare the churna the following way. Take 1 gm. of powdered saunth (dry ginger), 1.5 gms. of edible soda with 2 gms. salt heated on tawa and make 4 doses of the preparation. Have it with hot milk or water before retiring for the day. Alternatively, taking decoction of powdered saunth with old ghee cures backache and regulates menstrual disorders.
Arthrities and the gout problem
Taking 10 gms of saunth boiled in 100 gms. of water with jaggery for sometimes gives great relief in Arthritis troubles. Also munching fresh ginger with a piece of jaggery as and when one may like relieves the stiffness in the joints.
In the cases of parasis and paralysis
Make the ladoos in the following way: Fry paste of ground urad dal, mix saunth and jaggary (125 gms., 5 gms. and 10 gms. respectively). Eating one laddo every day in the morning helps in curing paralysis.
Numbness of the Limbs
Applying paste of dry ginger and garlic (mixed with water) on the affected parts cures numbness.
Chewing little of dry ginger with two shellots of garlic early in the morning for 10-15 days improves blood circulation and removes numbness of the limbs.
Note: In case you find ginger causing extra heat in the body taking a little of honey or almond oil sets the inbalance in order.
