Ginger is a versatile, cheap, and easy-to-find spice that can be used in all sorts of recipes, but most importantly it has a wide range of health benefits.
It’s perfect for settling upset stomachs, bolstering your immune system when you’re fighting off a cold, and reducing inflammation. It also has been proven to help ease the pain of migraine headaches in numerous clinical trials.
This recipe for homemade ginger ale is tasty and relatively simple to do yourself, so give it a try the next time you’re feeling under the weather.
The Recipe for Homemade Ginger Ale
The health-promoting perspectives of ginger are well-known. It can treat a wide range of diseases via immuno-nutrition and anti-inflammatory responses.
Ingredients
- 1 cups peeled and grated ginger
- 4 cups water
- raw honey (added to taste)
- sparkling carbonated water
- 2 limes
- mint leaves (optional)
Instructions
Bring the four cups of water – regular water, not the carbonated stuff – to a boil and add the ginger. Lower the heat and simmer for about five minutes, then strain the ginger out using a kitchen strainer or cheesecloth.
Combine the ginger water with the sparking water and add lime juice and honey to taste, then serve your newly made homemade ginger ale over ice. You can garnish it with a lime wedge if you’re feeling extra fancy!
Ginger For Headaches
“Ginger is reported in Ayurvedic and Tibb systems of medicine to be useful in neurological disorders [like migraine disorder],” reads one article on the use of ginger to treat migraine headaches. “It is proposed that administration of ginger may exert abortive and prophylactic effects in migraine headache without any side-effects.”(1)
This isn’t just a hypothesis based on ancient folk wisdom; there have been multiple studies and clinical trials on the efficacy of ginger for treating migraine headaches.
“Sublingual feverfew/ginger appears safe and effective as a first-line abortive treatment for a population of migraineurs who frequently experience mild headache prior to the onset of moderate to severe headache,” one such trial concluded(2).
Ginger For Nausea
That’s not all ginger is good for, though; studies have also been done on the safety and efficacy of ginger for treating nausea and vomiting associated with seasickness, pregnancy, and chemotherapy-induced nausea. “These studies collectively favored ginger over placebo,” one review states(3).
Ginger For Your Overall Health
An anti-inflammatory and antioxidant spice, ginger is also great for giving your immune system a much-needed boost, especially when you’re already feeling run down. There’s a reason why ginger ale is the go-to “sick day drink” for many people. There’s evidence to back this up as well:
“The health-promoting perspectives of ginger are well-known. It can treat a wide range of diseases via immunonutrition and anti-inflammatory responses. As a result of anti-inflammatory effect of ginger, it can reduce muscle pain after intense physical activity… besides these, it improves cardiovascular disorders, diabetes mellitus, and gastrointestinal health.”(4)
Plenty of reasons to enjoy a homemade ginger beverage!
sources:
[1]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2214812
[2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21631494
[3]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10793599
[4]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3665023/