A touch of ginger

Home made ginger ale - Dr Ben Kim

My soup of the moment has a decent dose of ginger in it . It gives it quite a hit of warming zing. But as well as the flavor hit ginger does great things for your health.
It is commonly known that ginger helps settle nausea and has a calming effect on bloating and abdominal pain but there are studies to confirm other therapeutic effects.

According to my fav online health guru Dr Ben Kim -


Ginger is Effective for Nausea and Vomiting Associated with Pregnancy
A large-scale study that was published in the April 2005 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that ginger can effectively decrease nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, even in severe cases where strong anti-vomiting drugs are normally prescribed. As was to be expected, there were no adverse or "side" effects reported with pregnancy outcomes due to ginger intake. Contrast this with the risk of birth defects that is associated with taking anti-vomiting drugs, and it's really a no-brainer for all pregnant women who experience intolerable nausea and vomiting to try taking small amounts of ginger before resorting to conventional drug-based treatments.
Ginger Provides Natural Anti-Inflammatory Effects
Real ginger is abundant in natural compounds called gingerols, which have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Numerous clinical studies have found that ginger can provide significant pain relief to people who suffer with degenerative or rheumatoid arthritis and/or chronic pain in their muscles.
Ginger Can Provide Protection Against Colorectal Cancer and Ovarian Cancer
Research presented at the Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Phoenix, Arizona in October of 2003 suggests that gingerols found in real ginger may inhibit the growth of cancer cells in the colon.
Research findings presented at the 97th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer showed that gingerols are actually able to kill ovarian cancer cells.

The article can be found here . It includes Dr Ben Kim's recipe for ginger ale. I'm going to stay with ginger tea and the soup during the winter but when the weather warms up the ginger ale will be just the thing!