It really has been a bitter cold season since the beginning of 2010 for many regions in the Northern Hemisphere. Not only the US and European countries face record low temperature, many cities in Asia from Beijing to Seoul have been enveloped in cold and windy weather with heavy snows.
While extreme weather events brought economic losses to many communities, sudden drop in temperature might also increase cold and flu risk. In fact, being cold, particularly shivering, depresses the immune system as our body’s resources go toward raising our temperature instead of warding off bacteria.
“That explains why focus on keeping warm is so important,” Traditional Chinese Practitioner (TCM) said. “Also, make sure you have fresh ginger available at home throughout the cold season.”
Reasons? According to TCM, ginger is pungent in taste and relates to lungs, spleen, and stomach. In general, it is able to promote circulation of blood, facilitate sweating, dispel cold, stop vomiting, disperse phlegm, and cease cough. That’s why aside from delicacy and spice, ginger is commonly consumed by Chinese as a medicine in many forms.
“Following are three usages of ginger that can save you from a severe cold winter,” TCM Practitioner suggested.
DRINK to fight common cold/flu symptoms
Place a few ginger slices to a pot with water and bring it to a boil for a while, then drink it. It can mitigate cold/flu symptoms, such as sneezing, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, muscle aches, shivering, and coughing by facilitating sweating and dispelling cold.
SOAK IN to simulate the circulation of blood
Since our blood is shunted to the body’s core in cold weather, our extremities (especially the feet) get cold first. For people who have a weak “Yang Qi” [the energy being expended in order to create a manifest action] or have a poor circulation of blood and “Qi,” their limbs not only get cold first, but also stay cold all the time.
“Soak the feet in warm-to-hot water can improve the flow of blood and promote metabolism,” TCM Practitioner said. “But if you can add a few large slices of ginger into the water, the result will be even more obvious and lasting.”
RINSE to cease coughing
Due to dry air, common cold, or flu, winter is the time of year to produce more coughs than summertime. “For relief of cough, make a rinse by mixing water with a few pieces of ginger, then rinse your mouth with your head upward,” TCM Practitioner said. “Alternatively, you can peel a small piece of ginger and chew on it slowly; your impulse to cough should disappear in either way.”
Ginger, before being brought back from the Middle East to the Westerns that eventually became gingerbread cookies, was originally used as preservatives and medicine, like those in China. Although gingerbread cookies evoke pleasant holiday feelings, we hardly gain the health benefits of ginger by munching on a few pieces of them. So, let’s continue to enjoy the refined bites, and at the same time, appreciate and utilize the raw side of ginger.
Image by FotoosVanRobin
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