Durban - Ginger, or zingiber officinale to give its posh botanical name, would probably score a fat zero were it to be ranked solely on appearance.
One of my children, when very young, once grimaced and hurled a clump of the stuff on to the kitchen floor, likening it to a hideous, gnarled, alien creature.
However, there’s a lot of good to be gained, and not only in the realm of cuisine, from this perennial and popular plant, which is grown commercially in Africa, China and Jamaica, but with India among its largest producers.
Uses of ginger go way back to the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans, when it was first used as both a spice and medicine.
These days, I, like many, enjoy it in the form of sweet ginger ale or, even better, ginger beer – first brewed in Yorkshire, England, in the mid-18th century, by the way. I also relish it as sweetened and thinly sliced shavings to accompany a favourite meal, sushi.
I first came across ginger as a child – when, like my kid, I also initially greeted the stuff with a groan and grimace.
Those were the days when, if we complained of tummy ache or excessive flatulence, my no-nonsense mother swore by a peeled and sliced, inch-long (2.5cm ) piece of ginger being allowed to sit for a while in a mug of boiling water, to be served to us and sipped when it had cooled a little.
Its recorded benefits extend way beyond that, however.
For example, ginger’s natural anti-inflammatory effects are noted as a common remedy for inflammation-related health problems, such as rheumatoid arthritis, according to Cathy Wong, an alternative medicine expert writing on the AboutHealth website (altmedicine.about.com).
Wong confirms what my late mom said – that a number of studies have pointed to ginger having a soothing effect on troubled tummies. Wong adds that in addition to helping to ease post-surgery nausea and vomiting, ginger also appears to reduce motion sickness and morning sickness.
She also quotes a 2009 study of 644 cancer patients who found that taking ginger supplements decreased post-chemotherapy nausea by 40 percent, and adds that ginger may also help alleviate chronic pain, possibly by lowering levels of hormones that induce inflammation.
In labratoratory tests, scientists have showed ginger extract may slow the growth of colorectal and ovarian cancer cells, as well as protect against Alzheimer’s disease. However, scientists have yet to confirm these findings in studies on humans, Wong concludes.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) also gives a thumbs-up to my late mother – it reports that the treatment of flatulence is helped with the use of ginger. The plant also helps with dyspepsia, colic, vomiting, diarrhoea, spasms and other stomach complaints, it adds.
Powdered ginger is employed in the treatment of colds and flu, to stimulate the appetite, as a narcotic antagonist and as an anti-inflammatory agent in the treatment of migraine headaches and rheumatic and muscular disorders, says the organisation.
The WHO also acknowledges that a study in China reported that 113 patients with rheumatic pain and chronic lower-back pain, injected with a five percent to 10 percent ginger extract into the painful points or reaction nodules, experienced full or partial relief of pain, a decrease in joint swelling and improvement or recovery in joint function .
Furthermore, oral administration of powdered ginger to patients with rheumatism and musculoskeletal disorders has been reported to provide varying degrees of relief from pain and swelling, the organisation points out.
There are also schools of thought that point to ginger possibly being beneficial for the heart and lowering high cholesterol.
So if you have any of these ailments or simply want a good pick-me-up brew, go on, put the kettle on. Nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain, right?
The Mercury