Ginger Root In Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine. Ginger Root in Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine. There are no panaceas in medicine, but if there were going to be one, it would have to be the humble Ginger root. Ginger is called “Vishabhesaj” in Ayurveda, which Ayurvedic physician Vasant Lad translates as “universal medicine.” That is both because of its wide applicability, its common use in medicine and kitchen, and its value for promotion of health. One of the basic rules for promoting longevity and wellness in both Ayurveda and Chinese medicine is to promote good digestion. In fact, this is a tenant of health promotion in just about every traditional Asian culture.
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Ginger in Ayurveda is so valuable for promoting health and wellness because it is so valuable for stimulating good digestion and for “waking up” a congested, clogged, slowed down or weakened digestion in both the ill and the soon to be ill. Both Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda speak of digestion as a process of warm transformation of gross material into fine essence. It is this fine essence of foods that is extracted in our blood streams after having been filtered by the liver after having been dissolved by our pancreatic enzymes, bile, and hydrochloric acid, after having been first masticated by the teeth and warmed and broken down a bit by our saliva. Ginger root, in both its fresh form “Sheng Jiang” and its dried form, “Gan Jiang” stimulate our digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid, a process that is part of stimulating the Agni/digestive fire in Ayurveda, and that is referred to as improving the “hun hua” or transformation and transportation of the solids and fluids, in Chinese Medicine. So its not just that ginger stimulates digestion, but that it aids in assimilation of nutrients making them more “bioavailable” in the blood stream, and with its warm, pungent nature helps to unclog the shrotas or channels in Ayurveda that corresponds to what we call the “triple burner” and ministerial fire in Chinese Medicine. When the triple heater physiology is impaired in Chinese medicine, a process akin to the development of Ama/toxins in Ayurveda, then it is easy for disease to form.
Its like having an engine whose oil has turned to sludge, or a garden whose soil has become water logged and has to much clay. We see this kind of condition in people with foul smelling, greasy looking bodies, with foul breath and thick greasy coatings on the tongue, with lots of unpleasant belching and flatulence.
It is also a condition that lends itself to the development of more serious disease. Especially if there is belching without sour fluid eructation, along with indigestion and abdominal pain of a mild type, ginger will be very helpful cooked in with the food, or taken in either tablet or tea form. Trikatu for Weak Digestion. If you have weak digestion, and you are a cold damp type, without acidic type indigestion with burning sensations, then you might try the famous Ayurvedic remedy Trikatu, which is found in tablet form and is a mixture of dry ginger with black pepper and long pepper. In fact, you can easily make this yourself with fresh ginger, too. In that case you would grind your long pepper and black pepper in the spice grinder (I use a coffee grinder).
And then grind your fresh ginger in a food processor and mix in an equal part of the dried spices. This can then be mixed with a little bit of raw honey, and eaten with a spoon after meals. Trikatu stimulates digestive enzymes and promotes rapid absorption of nutrients, while improving the metabolic function. Trikatu’s pungent hot qualities clear excess mucus from the body, which aids digestion and supports respiratory function. This is why it is used for children with weak digestion that get sick all the time with wet cold conditions of mucus and phlegm, like wet type bronchitis and ear infection.
Dry Ginger is Hot and Warms the Lungs and Dries Cold Phlegm. Ginger in Ayurveda is so valuable for promoting digestion that it is often added to difficult to digest bitter cold medicinals. In Chinese medicine dried ginger/Gan Jiang is an important herb in prescriptions for profuse cold phlegm in the lungs, associated with certain kinds of wheezing, cough, and asthmatic conditions, because dried Ginger is hotter than fresh ginger and is said to warm the lungs. This is why its dry ginger more than fresh that we find in the various Masala Chai spiced tea drinks found in India during the cold season. The further north one goes in India the colder the winter and the more ginger and black pepper found in the Masala Chai. Chai simply means tea in Hindi and other languages like Farsi.
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A masala is any kind of spice mixture. Curry powder could be called a curry masala.
Garam masala is a popular North Indian spice mix for vegetables. Chai masala is the name given to any combination of Ginger, Cardamon, Clove, Cinnamon, Fennel, Black Pepper, Long Pepper, Nutmeg and Mace, that is boiled in water to which tea and milk are then added. This spice combination helps protect your lungs from the cold damp air of winter, and if you do have a cold can help with expectoration, especially when your tea is sweetened with honey. Fresh Ginger Warms the Stomach and Promotes Digestion and Absorption. Sheng Jiang/fresh Ginger, on the other hand, is considered by Chinese medicine, to warm the stomach more than the lungs.
It is not as hot as dry ginger. That is why it is used so much in cooking in all the East, Southeast, and South Asian countries from Sri Lanka to Korea and from Pakistan to Korea.
Whether its in Korean Kimchee, Japanese pickled ginger, Vietnamese tapioca deserts, Laotion and Thai soups, Chinese rice porridge or Pork bone broth, Indian, Burmese, Sri Lankan or Pakistani curries, ginger serves one and the same purpose–to promote digestion of foods that are otherwise heavy with animal fat, or coconut milk, or cloying with sweet or bland tasting things. All grains are sweet, raw fish is sweet, flesh foods are sweet and heavy, coconut milk is sweet and cooling; so ginger, and other spices serve to promote digestion, and when digestion is good your body is able to extract the nutrients that act as fuel and medicine. Good appetite, good digestion, good prognosis. When someone has been sick you can tell they are feeling better when their appetite returns. Fish Poisoning. In Chinese medicine fresh ginger root is also considered an antidote to fish poisoning. That is why Chinese people steam their fish with ginger root and green onion. It is why Japanese eat pickled ginger and horseradish/wasabi with sushi, also because raw fish has such cold energy, it needs balance by warming.
Nausea and Vomiting. Because fresh ginger root is pungent and warming, and because it helps direct the stomach Qi in its correct direction, which is downward, it is a popular kitchen medicine in the east for nausea and vomiting. However for nausea in pregnancy, gan jiang dry ginger is more effective, but must be drunk in rather large quantities to be effective on its own. Normally for pregnancy nausea we use an herbal prescription with ginger and other herbs like Ban Xia/Rx. Pinellia called Er Chen Tang. Fresh Ginger to Disperse Cold, and to treat Colds and Coughs. Because fresh ginger root in tea promotes sweating (diaphoresis), and “expels pathogens” from the surface of the body, it is a great tea to drink when coming in out of the cold in winter, or if you have caught a chill from excessive wind or cold, such as when hiking in cold weather, or surfing in the ocean.
I always bring a thermos with some kind of ginger tea to drink after hiking in the San Diego mountains from Autumn to Spring, because by the time I finish it is dark and the weather has cooled and ginger itself is stimulating and acts as a pick- me- up for the long drive home, especially with green or black tea. Because ginger acts as an expectorant, it is also good for any kind of productive cough.
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But do not use it for a hot, dry, unproductive cough. It may cause it to worsen. Perhaps the most popular use of fresh ginger as a home remedy is for colds, productive cough, and cold type allergies. Its so simple. Basic Fresh Ginger Root tea for coming in from the cold. Place a tablespoon or so of fresh ginger slices or diced fresh ginger into 1.
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Bring to a boil. Steep till cool enough to drink. If desired, sweeten with honey.
Masala Chai Recipe for Early Spring or any Wet, Cold weather. Place in 1. 2 oz of water. In fact, if you cannot eat ginger without burning in your stomach, if ginger does not agree with you, that in and of itself tells the Ayurvedic physician that you have elevated Pitta dosha. But if you are a Pitta predominate type, and not unbalanced, then you can probably use Ginger, especially fresh ginger root, without any problems, in moderation. In India, since many people are lacto- vegeterian, it is very popular to begin the day with hot milk tea. Adding a slice of ginger root helps break down the fat and protein in the milk, which is heavy and cooling and pacifies pitta, so that amount of ginger should work fine.
If it does not, that tells you where you are at, in terms of elevated Pitta in the gut. Ginger Root in Ayurvedic Churnas. Churnas in Ayurvedic medicine are spice mixtures to promote digestion and to pacify the doshas.
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One of the classic churns for Vata elevation, with symptoms of excessive gas or susceptibility to gas no matter what the food is a churna made of equal parts hing/asofoetida, ginger, and cumin. One might add a smaller portion of long pepper to this formula. Long pepper is delicious, and is like black pepper, but more fragrant. If not available, use black pepper. Simply combine equal parts of these three spices in powder form, and an amount of pepper half of any of the other ingredients. Place a small amount of this mixture onto your tongue after meals, or mix with hot water and drink.
Or mix with a little honey.