That’s because this aromatic herb that comes from a flowering plant contains gingerol, a powerful phytochemical which gives ginger its spicy flavor. “While you would have to eat large amounts of kale or berries to gain nutritional benefits, these small components in ginger are effective in very small amounts,” says Charlotte Traas, board-certified master herbalist and director of education for New Chapter, Inc., in Brattleboro, Vermont.

The Health Benefits of Ginger Root

1. Ginger and Digestion

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, ginger is classified as a “yang” herb, helping to warm the body, and is traditionally used for supporting the digestive system. “The digestive system is at the root of your whole health so supporting healthy digestion is a great way to balance your overall health,” Traas says.

2. Ginger and Blood Sugar

Numerous studies have been conducted on ginger’s ability to aid with blood glucose control. For instance, an analysis from the journal Medicine found that people with type 2 diabetes experienced significant improvements in HbA1c levels while taking ginger. Researchers suggest that ginger may even help with long-term blood sugar control.

3. Ginger and Chronic Disease

Ginger contains powerful antioxidants that aid your body in numerous ways. Sun exposure, pollution, cigarette smoke, and even exercise can increase free radicals in your body. “Being inundated by free radicals is a natural process, but when they become overwhelming, it may have an effect on your body,” Traas says, adding that unless those free radicals are quelled by antioxidants, they can leave a path of destruction in your body.

Enter ginger, which may help prevent diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, according to a study in the journal Molecules.

4. Ginger and Weight Loss

Ginger for weight loss? Don’t think this means you can ditch that online gym membership or stray from your plant-based diet, but a review from the Annals of New York Academy of Sciences reveals that ginger is linked with weight loss in overweight adults. The potent spice apparently not only reduces hunger pangs but also enhances calorie burning.

5. Ginger and Migraines

Ancient medicine has often used ginger for headaches, and there may be a good reason to believe it can work for migraines. In a study from Phytotherapy Research, researchers put ginger to the test against sumatriptan, a common migraine drug, and in the words of Michael Greger, M.D., founder of NutritionFacts.org and author of How Not to Die, “ginger won.” Not only is ginger significantly cheaper than the drug, but it also came with fewer side effects. Just an eighth of a teaspoon of ginger mixed with water did the trick in lessening or eradicating migraines.

6. Ginger and Pain

When training for running events, Traas will often incorporate ginger to help support her body’s recovery. Why? There’s research associated with ginger’s ability to reduce pain after exercise and support healthy inflammation balance in the body, she says. Case in point: A study from The Journal of Pain showed that consuming ginger daily in the form of capsules with raw or heat-treated ginger reduced muscle pain from exercise by 25 percent.

7. Ginger and Nausea

Ginger has long been touted as a cure for tummy issues. Travelers, for instance, have used ginger to aid with seasickness and motion sickness from cars. And there is compelling research to suggest that it can aid nausea. In a study from Integrative Medicine Insights, researchers write that the “best available evidence demonstrates that ginger is an effective and inexpensive treatment for nausea and vomiting and is safe.”

8. Ginger and Menstrual Cramps

Women who have trouble with menstrual cramps may want to add one-eighth of a teaspoon of ginger powder to their diet three times a day, writes Greger in his book How Not to Die. Doing so helped decrease the level of pain from menstrual cramps, according to this study from Pain Management Nursing in which women took the ginger for four days starting with the day before their period.

9. Ginger and Bad Breath

No breath mints on you? No worries – just sip some ginger tea. In this study from the Technical University of Munich, ginger tea helped eradicate bad breath within just a matter of seconds. Researchers explain that gingerol stimulates an enzyme in your saliva that breaks down nasty-smelling compounds, including even coffee breath.

How Much Ginger Should I Eat?

There’s no “should” when it comes to ginger, as it’s not part of any dietary recommendations per se. But in the world of herbal medicine, “more is not always better when it comes to herbals (like ginger),” Traas says.

Simply start by adding a little fresh or ground ginger to your daily diet. Jamie Feit, M.S., R.D., a dietitian in White Plains, N.Y., and expert at Testing.com, has all of her clients start the day with a beverage she calls morning mojo, warm water mixed with lemon and fresh ginger. Although ground and fresh ginger are both good options, “it’s been found that ground ginger has higher concentrations depending on how it’s dehydrated, she says.

Whether you chop it into a stir fry or add it to hot tea as Traas loves to do, start small and know that adding it to food can help if you’re not used to spicy foods. Just don’t go overboard, as excessive amounts can cause stomach upset, Feit says.

You can also take a ginger supplement, which Traas, who is affiliated with a supplement company, says is a way to make sure that not only is the dose consistent but so, too, is your usage. “You can easily incorporate it into your day without having to find ways to sneak it into your diet,” she says.

Want to learn about more healthy foods that can help boost your immune system and overall health? Check out our guide to 15 immune-boosting foods.

The post The 9 Incredible Health Benefits of Ginger and How Much to Eat appeared first on The Beet.

You may have seen protein topped with a black garlic butter sauce, and other times you’ll see veggies dipped into a black garlic aioli. These dishes might be made for aesthetic purposes but unlike other meals presented in a spooky way, like charcoal, black garlic is extremely healthy and delivers special health benefits that include containing more antioxidants than raw garlic and helping to protect against various diseases. So next time you’re out to eat and your friend wants to order the appetizer with black garlic for a photo opp, they’re doing everyone at the table a favor, in terms of good health.

The taste of black garlic is sweeter than raw garlic because the sugars and amino acids are broken down and produce a higher level of fructose and glucose. This is why black garlic is often served with savory protein or added to a yogurt sauce. The texture is softer and smoother than garlic, and sometimes can feel like jelly, depending on the cooking style and humidity level. Here are the answers to the most asked questions about black garlic and five health benefits that might just make you start the aging process tonight.

What is Black Garlic?

Simply, black garlic is the product of aging or heating raw garlic blubs for about four weeks at 140 degrees Fahrenheit in a humid environment, while making sure the garlic doesn’t dry out. It’s almost like a slow roasting process. It gets its color from a chemical reaction that breaks down sugars and amino acids that create new flavor compounds, and a new color. The taste of black garlic is much sweeter than raw garlic and has hints of syrup aftertaste. People describe it as “sweet balsamic vinegar.”

How Do I Make Black Garlic at Home?

There are a couple of ways to age your garlic at home. If you’re roasting the garlic in a dehydrator, first wrap the garlic in saran wrap, then in tin foil to keep the moisture. In the dehydrator, you’ll set the temperature to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Some people find it easiest to use a rice cooker or an Instant Pot and heat their garlic (with the skin) using the “Keep Warm” function.

You’ll do the exact same preparation: Wrap the garlic in saran wrap then in tin foil to keep the moisture. The difference is that you need a small grate to put on the bottom of the rice cooker or Instant Pot to keep the garlic from getting dry. It only takes 5 minutes to assemble the garlic for the fermentation process but you do have to wait weeks for the final product, but its health benefits and exquisite taste make it worthwhile. Here’s a video tutorial for extra help.

Where Can I Buy Black Garlic?

Black garlic was first used as an ingredient in Asian cuisine for extra flavor added to sauces and for its medicinal purposes and was often used in high-end restaurants for an upscale garnish, but now that it’s becoming more mainstream, you can find black garlic at select grocery stores including Trader Joe’s and online at Amazon.

How Do I Eat Black Garlic?

A majority of dishes that call for black garlic are sauces, just as with regular garlic. Because black garlic is sweeter, people enjoy it in an aioli sauce for veggie burgers, artichokes, and dipping sliced vegetables. It’s also enjoyed as a butter sauce that can be easily made vegan by swapping dairy for non-dairy butter. Here’s an easy one: Add the black garlic vegan butter sauce to a sweet potato for a delicious snack or side dish. If you’re looking to create a work of art, here’s a black garlic tofu recipe that looks delicious.

Five Health Benefits of Black Garlic

1. Black garlic has more antioxidants than raw garlic, which helps to protect your cells against disease and boost immunity. In a review study, researchers analyzed the changes in garlic during the aging process and found that antioxidant levels increased as the garlic aged, including the total polyphenol and total flavonoids contents. More significantly, the antioxidant levels increased the most significantly on the 21st day of the aging process, according to the study. “These results indicate that black garlic can be considered to not only possess antioxidant properties during the aging period but also to reach its optimal antioxidant properties on the 21st day of aging,” according to the authors.

In addition, a different study discovered that the antioxidant activity of fermented aged black garlic was stronger than non-fermented black garlic.

2. Black garlic may help lower cholesterol and inflammation in the body, as well as regulate healthier eating habits. Researchers described black garlic as a “functional food with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties,” so they analyzed the effects of black garlic extract in rats that ate a high-fat diet, in a study. In conclusion, researchers found that black garlic helped the rats lower inflammation, cholesterol, and regulated their food intake, boosting metabolic health.

3. Fermented black garlic may reduce the risk of diabetes and diabetic complications. Researchers fed fermented aged black garlic to obese mice that ate a high-fat diet, according to another study. When garlic goes through fermentation, natural chemicals including yeast are increased, and researchers hypothesized that fermented and aged black garlic could help improve the oxidative defense system in older patients or patients affected by oxidative stress, for example, “diabetes and diabetic complications.” After their 91 day trial, black garlic and fermented black garlic showed “favorable hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, hypolipidemic, and antiobesity effects,” according to the researchers, meaning that both fermented black garlic and black garlic may help protect against liver damage, preserve kidney function, lower cholesterol, and prevent obesity.

4. Aged garlic extract may be useful for improving short-term memory loss and inflammation in the brain. In one study, adult male rats were given aged garlic extract every day for 56 days. Just seven days into the trial, results showed improvements for short-term memory recognition in cognitively impaired rats. Researchers also found that the extract significantly lowered inflammatory responses in the brain.

5. Black garlic may contain anticancer activities. Researchers examined the different health benefits of consuming raw garlic versus black garlic on 21 volunteers, in another study. They found that the black garlic extract showed the strongest antioxidant and anticancer activities. “Black garlic extract showed stronger immunostimulatory activities than raw garlic extract,” said the authors. They concluded by saying that the difference between black garlic and raw garlic is that there are changes in the composition of black garlic during its processing phase.

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The post The 5 Health Benefits of Black Garlic and How to Make it at Home appeared first on The Beet.