If not for reading Gary Null’s Gary Null’s Power Aging, I would never know how potent ginger is in anti-aging. Too bad that I have avoided this plant all of my lifetimes. Fortunately, it’s not too late to change. If you are like me, you may want to reintroduce ginger to your diet. But don’t worry. You don’t have to sprinkle ginger all over your dishes to get the most of its anti-aging benefit. Drinking a cup of ginger tea will do. And it’s easy to make ginger tea in the comfort of your home.
Before we go into details of how to make ginger tea, let’s have a closer look at this underground plant first.
Ginger has had a very long history in China and India. As a herbal medicine, it can fight various illnesses and diseases, such as digestion, stomach upset, nausea, and heart conditions. In China, ginger has also been used as a cooking spice for at least 4,400 years. Chinese people even use ginger as a home remedy to treat initial symptoms of cold and flu.
The Anti-Aging Ginger
Where does ginger’s anti-aging power come from? It’s an antioxidant. They are substances that can counter-balance the aging-causing free radicals in our skin cells. It is generally believed that pungent phenol compounds such as gingerols and shogaols are responsible for ginger’s antioxidant properties. That said, the more pungent the ginger is, the more effective its anti-aging property is.
That reminds me of a Chinese proverb “The older the ginger, the hotter the spice,” which basically means the old people (ginger) are generally wiser than the young guys. It seems that pungent ginger is much favored in terms of its wisdom and anti-aging effects. Funny, isn’t it?
For most people, ginger is likely to be safe. However, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you may want to consult a doctor before taking on any dietary change. If you are having bleeding disorders, diabetes, or heart conditions, take extra care for regular consumption.
How to Make Ginger Tea at Home
As I said, making your own ginger tea is quite easy. You may even add your favorite sweetener to spice up the taste. For me, I always choose manuka honey, because it’s also rich in antioxidants.
Without further ado, here’s the how-to. Slice the ginger and press the shreds with an onion press. Then, dump the paste into a saucepan with water and boil it for 5 minutes. Longer if you want the tea to be more pungent. Separate the ginger from the juice, season it with your sweetener, and it’s done.
Frankly, I seldom took a second look at this humble-looking stem. It’s spicy and doesn’t taste good on my tongue. It’s repulsive whenever I saw any ginger in any of my mom’s dishes. And I made it a point to pick out all shreds of ginger before I ever had a bite. But now, I am afraid I need to sort of change my dietary habit.
