Ginger for Good Health

by Lois Breneman - Heart to Heart - 2015

The following benefits can be yours by drinking ginger tea, juicing with ginger, consuming it in your foods, as well as by using ginger essential oil (a more concentrated form). 

I use a therapeutic grade of essential oils because of their purity and safety in being able to use most of them internally, something that most companies cannot claim.  In a health food store I asked about a brand that stated on the front label, "100% pure" whether or not it could be ingested.  The answer was, "Oh, no! Never!"  However, that same oil in the therapeutic brand that I use could be safely ingested.

In doing research I read that for beverages it is suggested that one drop of ginger oil be used for each 4 ounces of beverage. In making a syrup, they suggest one drop to one teaspoon of honey.

Research says children under age six should not be given ginger essential oil internally.

It can be applied neat (straight from the bottle) for adults, but because of repeated use, that can result in contact sensitization for this oil.  

So for adults I would dilute 1:1 with fractionated coconut oil.
For children dilute even more.  In a 10 ml. bottle use only 3-10 drops, then fill the bottle with fractionated coconut oil.

A drop or two of ginger essential oil, added to a daily cup of tea, would go a long way in boosting your health!

Certainly incorporating ginger into your daily regimen would help cover a lot of bases.  The easiest way to do that is to use a roller bottle of ginger, and possibly other essential oils, diluted with fractionated coconut oil, and rub it on the bottom of your feet every morning or night.  Since ginger is a beneficial food, if a little more ginger is ingested by way of juice, food, or tea, during the day, that's a good thing.

How to Make Fresh Ginger Paste

by Lois Breneman - Heart to Heart - Revised 2015

Ginger helps aid in digestion and does so much more.  Check out the article on "Ginger Benefits" in the side bar to see other reasons to include this in your diet as often as possible. Ginger also adds great flavor to many soups and countless other dishes! 

Pureed ginger paste is available to purchase in small jars at your grocery store.  But I'll share with you how you can easily save money by making your own ginger paste that will be even more fresh than jarred ginger. 

Buy a large hunk or two of ginger root in the produce department of the grocery store.  Cut it apart into easy-to-peel sections, and peel with a vegetable peeler, or scrape with a spoon - whichever works best for you. Slice all the peeled ginger into about 1/2-inch chunks, and put them into a Vita Mix or a good blender with a little water and olive oil.  You will want it to be the consistency of paste, so just add a tiny bit of liquid at first.  Blend until smoothly pureed, and spoon the ginger paste into Tupperware midget cups, very small containers, or an ice cube tray, and freeze for adding flavor, zip, and nutritional benefits to many dishes.  I keep one small container handy in the refrigerator door to add to recipes.

For delicious lemon-ginger tea, drop a few slices of fresh ginger root into a large teacup with a lemon zinger teabag.  Fill with boiling water and steep (covered) for about 5 minutes.  Add stevia and enjoy!