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Fresh ginger can be eaten raw or processed with vinegar, sauce, pickling, salt, or honey. It is an essential seasoning in daily life and a cost-effective health product. Studies have shown that fresh ginger contains volatile oils such as gingerol, which have a bidirectional regulatory effect on gastric acid and gastric juice secretion, enhancing appetite, promoting intestinal peristalsis, and alleviating bloating. Hence, there is a saying, “Three slices of ginger in the morning are better than ginseng soup,” and “Three slices of ginger a day, no need for a doctor’s prescription.”
Fresh ginger is a familiar ingredient to everyone; it not only serves as a seasoning for cooking but also has high nutritional value as a health food. However, there is a derivative of fresh ginger—dried ginger. Do you know what it is?
Dried ginger is actually a product made from fresh ginger that has been dried and processed. It shares similar properties with fresh ginger but has its own unique characteristics.
So, what are the health benefits of dried ginger?
The Health Benefits of Dried Ginger
1. Nourishes Deficiency and Strengthens the Heart
Dried ginger is classified as a spicy and warming food that can open the meridians and benefit the heart. It is very beneficial for promoting the rise of yang energy within the body and nourishing yin. Therefore, regularly consuming dried ginger can greatly aid in nourishing deficiency and strengthening the heart.
2. Warms the Stomach and Dispels Cold
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that dried ginger is warm in nature and has the effect of dispelling cold and warming the body. It is an excellent choice for warming the stomach. For individuals with cold and deficiency in the spleen and stomach, dried ginger can be used to regulate the spleen and stomach, promote yang energy in the stomach, and drive away cold.
In addition to consuming dried ginger alone to warm the stomach, pairing it with Fu Zi (Aconite) can enhance the effect of dispelling cold and warming the stomach.
3. Moistens the Lungs and Resolves Phlegm
Dried ginger enters the lung and spleen meridians and can produce a good regulatory effect for symptoms such as lung dryness and excessive phlegm. Therefore, during seasons with poor air quality, people can consume dried ginger to protect the lungs.
4. Antibacterial and Anti-inflammatory
Dried ginger contains ether extracts, which are substances with anti-inflammatory properties. When ingested, they can effectively prevent harmful bacteria from invading the body, providing a reliable guarantee for the recovery from related inflammation.
How to Pair Dried Ginger for Better Health
The most common dietary method for dried ginger is to brew it in water. Besides consuming it alone, pairing it with other ingredients can yield better results.
Dried Ginger + Chen Pi (Dried Tangerine Peel): Both dried ginger and Chen Pi are common Chinese medicinal materials. Brewing them together as tea can help resolve phlegm, eliminate dampness, soothe cough, and moisten the lungs.
Dried Ginger + Bai Zhu (White Atractylodes): TCM believes Bai Zhu has the effect of eliminating dampness, while dried ginger warms the interior and dispels cold. This combination can enhance the effect of dampness elimination, especially suitable for individuals with excessive internal dampness.
What are the Differences Between Fresh Ginger and Dried Ginger?
Fresh ginger can release the exterior and dispel cold. If we are exposed to cold wind or air conditioning, slicing a few pieces of ginger, boiling it in water with some brown sugar, will induce sweating and warm the body, effectively expelling the cold evil. This is known as releasing the exterior and dispelling cold.
Another function of fresh ginger is to stop vomiting. If vomiting occurs due to disharmony in the spleen and stomach, especially cold-induced vomiting, squeezing some ginger juice and drinking it can effectively stop the vomiting.
The method for making ginger juice is as follows: crush fresh ginger, mix it with a little water, stir, and then strain the juice. This is ginger juice, not simply blending fresh ginger in a blender.
As for resolving phlegm and stopping cough, this refers to coughs caused by cold or cold phlegm. In this case, adding fresh ginger to the formula can yield good results. In the “Shang Han Lun” (Treatise on Cold Damage), fresh ginger is used 39 times, primarily for dispersing cold, stopping vomiting, and resolving phlegm.
Dried ginger: pungent and warm in nature. It is indicated for chest fullness, cough, reverse qi, warming the middle, stopping bleeding, inducing sweating, expelling wind-dampness, diarrhea, and dysentery.
Dried ginger warms the interior and dispels cold, revives yang and opens the meridians. It treats cold pain in the abdomen, vomiting and diarrhea, cold limbs with weak pulse, cough due to cold drinks, wind-cold-dampness bi syndrome, yang deficiency with vomiting and bleeding.
Dried ginger differs from fresh ginger in that fresh ginger has a more dispersing nature and promotes sweating, while dried ginger’s effects are more internal, serving as a warming medicine. For example, in TCM, there is a saying, “Fu Zi (Aconite) cannot be heated without dried ginger.” In the famous warming yang formula, Si Ni Tang (Four Reversal Decoction), we use Fu Zi and dried ginger together to revive yang and rescue from reversal. This formula is a powerful tool of the Huoshen school in TCM, often used to save people in critical situations. When a person is severely ill and yang energy is weak, the righteous qi cannot expel the evil externally, often leading to critical conditions. At this time, using Si Ni Tang can invigorate the yang energy, bringing vitality back to the patient.
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