Ginger Is a Superfood, but Not for Everyone: Who Should Avoid It?

Ginger is not just a popular cuisine condiment but also a healthy food. However, when consuming this root, we should avoid a few pitfalls.

Let us discuss the safest, most effective ways to eat ginger to boost its health effects.

Health Benefits of Ginger

The biochemical constituents of ginger are abundant, and the main components include volatile oil, curcumin, zingiberol, gingerol, starch, and others. These components impart a variety of benefits to ginger.

1. Promotes digestion: Ginger contains ingredients such as gingerol and zingiberol, which can promote gastrointestinal peristalsis and increase the secretion of digestive juice, helping relieve gastrointestinal discomfort.
2. Reduces inflammation: Curcumin in ginger has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor effects, which can relieve discomfort due to inflammation.
3. Relieves nausea and vomiting: The volatile oil in ginger can ease nausea and vomiting, especially nausea and vomiting caused by pregnancy and chemotherapy.
4. Lowers blood sugar and cholesterol: Curcumin and other ingredients in ginger can lower blood sugar and cholesterol, which helps prevent diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
5. Is an analgesic and antispasmodic: The gingerol and zingiberol in ginger can relieve pain, cramps, spasms, and muscle pain.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) posits that most natural foods can be classified either as “cold” or “hot.” They can further be subdivided into cold, hot, warm, and neutral food. Eating cold foods cools your body, while eating hot foods lends a warming effect. With this in mind, the body’s condition can be tuned via the proper balance of cold- and hot-food intake. For example, ginger’s energy is spicy and warm, so it is a warm food. In TCM clinical practice, ginger is widely used to treat gastrointestinal discomfort, cold arthralgia pain, fever, cough, aversion to cold, and other symptoms.

Best Time to Eat Ginger

Although ginger has many beneficial effects, its consumption is not suitable for everyone. Furthermore, we should also pay attention to the proper time to eat ginger.

Some say morning is the best time to eat ginger and that it is not wise to eat it at night. The components in ginger have a stimulating effect on the digestive system, which is beneficial for promoting gastrointestinal peristalsis and secretion of digestive juice, both helpful in promoting appetite and digestion. In the morning, the body’s metabolism is robust, and eating ginger can help speed up the body’s metabolism, refresh the mind, and help play a role in wellness.

Eating ginger at night may impact sleep, but it is not as bad as the internet saying that “eating ginger at night is like eating arsenic trioxide.” (One highly poisonous substance!)

Eating ginger at night is unsuitable for people with exuberant fire due to kidney yin deficiency. TCM believes that the kidney is the center of yin and yang in the human body and is the “innate foundation,” or the foundation of life. Kidney yin is the source of all yin fluid in the body, which moistens and nourishes all organs and tissues. Symptoms such as backache, irregular menstruation, infertility, and emaciation will occur when kidney yin is deficient. If there are no kidney yin deficiency issues, eating ginger in moderation at night without ill effects is possible.

So is it recommended to eat ginger at noon? There is no scientific evidence to prove that it is not. I do not think eating ginger will damage the lungs or affect heart function.

Though it is considered warm, ginger has a mild effect and will not overheat the body. Therefore, most people can safely consume ginger in moderation in the morning, noon, or evening.

Who Needs to Be Careful When Eating Ginger?

Next, let us look at who should avoid eating ginger.

Although ginger has many health benefits, not everyone should take it. People with the following conditions should consume less or not at all.

1. Weak gastrointestinal function: If these people overeat ginger, it can cause problems such as diarrhea and gastrointestinal discomfort.
2. Prone to allergies: Some people are prone to allergic reactions to foods containing ginger. If you’ve ever seen skin redness, swelling, itching, or other symptoms after eating ginger, stop eating it.
3. Pregnant and breastfeeding women: Excessive consumption of ginger may have adverse effects on the fetus or infant.

Should Ginger Be Peeled?

Another question that often arises is, “Should ginger be peeled?” TCM believes that different parts of plants have different properties, flavors, and effects, and the flesh and peel of ginger are good examples.

Ginger peel contains more cellulose and minerals but also curcumin, ginger oil, and gingerol. Too much intake may have adverse effects on the body. Among these components, gingerol is the most toxic, and excessive consumption may cause symptoms such as gastrointestinal discomfort, dyspnea, and allergies.

From the perspective of energy in TCM, ginger flesh is spicy and warm, causing sweating and dispelling cold. But, on the other hand, its peel has a spicy and cool nature and has the opposite effect of antiperspirant and quenching heat. Therefore, whether you peel ginger is situational. For instance, peeling it in the winter and not in summer is best.

Another example would be when you have a cold or fever. Drinking ginger soup can help the body excrete toxins through sweating. In this case, removing the ginger peel and using just the inner flesh can help dispel cold and make you sweat.

If you drink ginger and red jujube tea as a health drink, you do not need to peel the ginger because this drink is meant to warm the body, drive away cold, and enhance physical strength. Ginger peel will help strengthen the body but also clear heat.

Keeping the ginger peel on can also increase the flavor when making ginger drinks or cooking. It is up to personal preference to remove it or not. However, those allergic to ginger peel should probably remove it to be safe.