by Power of Positivity
Curious about how ginger affects your body? To shed light on this, consider these key facts about Zingiber officinale, commonly known as ginger:
“According to Owen Bond, ginger is the underground stem (rhizome) of the Zingiber officinale plant, utilized for millennia as a culinary ingredient, seasoning, and therapeutic agent.”
**Ginger acts as a vasodilator, meaning it expands blood vessels and improves blood flow. This widening effect raises internal temperature (the thermogenic effect), boosting metabolic rate and calorie expenditure.
**It also stimulates gastric juice secretion, aiding digestion and further calorie burning.
**Research on animals has shown that ginger can elevate metabolism by up to 20%.
“Owen Bond, in his work ‘Does Ginger Burn Fat?’, explains that ginger promotes digestion and stimulates metabolism, resulting in increased calorie burning.”
**Beyond weight management, ginger alleviates nausea, constipation, and indigestion.
**The rhizome of ginger can be eaten fresh, ground, dried as a seasoning, extracted as oil, or juiced. Belonging to the Zingiberaceae family (which includes cardamom and turmeric), ginger is primarily cultivated in India, Jamaica, Fiji, Indonesia, and Australia.
Fortunately, ginger is flavorful, making it ideal for preparing ginger water. Ginger root is commonly stocked in stores, so sourcing the key ingredient is straightforward.
Ready to make your own ginger water? Let’s get started!
Follow these five easy steps to prepare ginger water:
- Obtain either dried ginger powder or fresh ginger root. (Tip: If using fresh, slice it thinly!)
- Boil two cups of water.
- Pour the hot water into a cup.
- Add the ginger powder or slices. (Note: If using slices, let it steep for 15 minutes before drinking.)
- (Optional) Enhance flavor with a lemon slice or a drizzle of honey. Bonus: honey and lemon are both natural fat-burning aids. Win-win!
For optimal fat-burning results, consume a cup of ginger water two to three times daily. Keep in mind that ginger and ginger water benefit more than weight loss; they also promote digestion and metabolic health.
(Explore additional health advantages of consuming ginger in both drink and food form!)
Registered dietitian Megan Ware, RDN, LN, notes that ginger may also reduce appetite, ease motion sickness, and alleviate pain.
Ginger can be purchased fresh, dried, as an extract, or as oil. Health food stores and supplement retailers offer ginger in capsule or tablet form.
Common ginger-containing foods include cookies, ginger ale, gingerbread, and ginger snaps. Additionally, ginger is available as capsules, tablets, or tinctures.
