Ginger offers numerous health benefits: it boosts the immune system, improves digestion, helps with nausea and pain, and has a calming effect on fear and stress. It is no coincidence that ginger is considered one of the oldest natural remedies - it has been known in India and China for around 4,000 years. It only arrived in Europe during the Middle Ages via the Mediterranean and was immediately recognized for its medicinal properties. However, it later fell into obscurity. Only in recent years has interest in ginger resurfaced. While most people buy it from supermarkets, it can also be grown in a pot at home by a window.
Whether you use it fresh or dried for teas, beverages, dishes, baths, or aromatherapy, its benefits are guaranteed. Ginger also improves lymphatic system function, harmonizes the mind-body-spirit connection, detoxifies, and stimulates circulation and metabolism. The ginger root contains about 150 essential oils. It has a warming effect, is beneficial for rheumatic pain, and supports bladder and urinary tract health.
Recipe 1: Ginger Tea
Ginger tea can be prepared with additional herbs. It helps with fatigue, exhaustion, metabolism regulation, and blood purification. You will need:
- 2 slices of ginger
- 1 teaspoon each of the following medicinal plants: agrimony (Agrimonia), rose petals, calendula, milk thistle, dandelion root, mint leaves, and red centaury (Centaurium erythraea)
- 1/2 teaspoon cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
Boil water, then pour it over the mixture and cover for 10 minutes. Strain the infusion. Sweeten if desired. Drink the tea warm, consuming up to 1 liter per day. The treatment course can last 4–6 weeks.
Recipe 2: Foot Bath
This detoxifying treatment soothes circulation and breathing, provides warmth, and has a relaxing effect.
Ingredients:
- 3 heaping tablespoons of ginger
- 3 drops of ginger essential oil
- 1 teaspoon of pine honey
Mix the ingredients well. The bathwater should not exceed 38°C. Stir the mixture into the water thoroughly. The foot bath should last at least 20 minutes. Dry your feet and put on socks to retain warmth, or go straight to bed.
How to Make Your Own Ginger Powder
Take one fresh ginger root, wash it thoroughly under running water, dry it well, and chop it into very thin slices or small pieces.
Spread the pieces on a clean surface and let them dry in a dry, ventilated, and sunny place. Drying takes about 10–14 days.
Once dried, grind the pieces into a powder using a blender or grinder. Transfer to an airtight jar and store in a dark place for up to one year.
Recipe 3: Aromatic Ginger Bath
This bath relaxes muscles and the mind while cleansing the skin.
Ingredients:
- 1 liter fresh milk
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 10 tablespoons rose petals (organic, dried or fresh if possible)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 5–8 drops of ginger essential oil
Warm the milk without boiling it. Place the chopped ginger and rose petals in a tea filter and submerge in the hot milk. Let steep, then strain and pour into the bath. Mix the honey and ginger essential oil, then add them to the bathwater. The water temperature should not exceed 38°C. Stay in the bath for at least 20 minutes.
If you prefer not to use fresh milk, other emulsifiers like cream, salt, or apple cider vinegar can be used.
Recipe 4: Ginger Inhalation
Effective for nausea (including travel sickness), colds, exhaustion, and mental fatigue.
Ingredients:
- Clean sheep’s wool
- 3–6 drops of ginger essential oil
- 1 small liqueur glass
Tear off a small piece of wool, about the size of a cotton ball. Drop some ginger essential oil onto it, seal it well, and shake before use.
Inhale from the wool piece 3–4 times daily for about 5 minutes. This is known as dry inhalation. It is convenient as it can be prepared anywhere, even while traveling.
Another method is to keep a small glass bottle (such as an empty rose oil vial) with a few drops of ginger essential oil inside. After cleaning and drying the bottle, add a few drops of oil and inhale directly from it.
It is important to follow the proper technique: inhale through one nostril first, then the other, alternating.
Recipe 5: Ginger Compress
Recommended for rheumatic pain, inflammation, colds, muscle relaxation, lymphatic cleansing, and detoxification.
Ingredients:
- 50 ml base oil (sesame, almond, or jojoba)
- 10 ml ginger essential oil
- 100 g beeswax (pellets or blocks)
- A cotton, linen, or silk cloth
- An old woolen fabric
Mix 1 tablespoon of the base oil with 2–3 drops of ginger essential oil. Apply to affected areas, such as from the wrist to the elbow, and rub into the skin.
Melt the beeswax in a water bath. Soak the cloth in the melted wax several times until well saturated. Wring it out so that it is neither too dry nor too wet.
Place the wax-infused cloth directly on the affected skin and secure it with the woolen fabric. Then, fix the compress with another cloth. Leave the compress on for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
For liver compresses, apply them around noon between 12 PM and 2 PM if possible.
The wax-infused cloth can be reused up to 4–5 times. Store it in a sealed container to prevent drying out. After that, replace the cloth and repeat the procedure.
