In the east, ginger was a great multitasker for time immemorial: It’s indispensable in Asian kitchen and used in many forms (fresh, dried, preserved, pickled, powdered, to name just a few).
Then, it’s valued as a medicinal plant and used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for almost anything you can think of. Be it muscular pain, sore throat, nausea, indigestion, fever, or cramps, for starters. In short, it’s a superfood that has a long list of beauty benefits as well.
What is ginger?
Ginger is often referred to as a root, but it’s an underground stem, called a rhizome. It’s been used as a spice for 4000 years while its medicinal properties were discovered around 2000 years ago.
It’s from the rhizome that the plant grows from since it hosts all of the essential nutrients. including the spicy, flavourful polyphenols and sweet starches. It’s from the rich rhizome that the aromatic oils and extracts are produced.
On a side note, polyphenols are plant compounds with antioxidant properties.
There’s plenty of research showing how beneficial ginger is. Perhaps the most salient polyphenol is gingerol. It’s a yellow, pungent oil that gives the ginger its intense aroma and flavour. Gingerol is antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and the main reason why inflammation is reduced in our bodies.
Overall, ginger contains more than 40 antioxidants. Free radicals are constantly formed in your body. They are compounds that can cause harm when they outnumber antioxidants, it can result in oxidative stress. This state can damage your DNA and other important molecules in your body.
That’s why neutralising free radicals and the resulting oxidative stress is important. Antioxidants go around scavenging and neutralising free radicals.
So, how does ginger help improve your skin?
With its many healing properties, ginger can beneficial for all skin types, including oily, dry, and sensitive skin. As is with skincare, it’s recommended to use it regularly and over a long period to see results and get its full benefits.
Clear Breakouts
If you’re struggling with bouts of zits and looking for a natural and plant-based remedy, ginger can help you clear up your skin. Firstly, with its antiseptic properties, it kills bacteria that cause acne.
Then, due to its antioxidants, it’s soothing and reduces inflammation. This makes it especially suitable for people with sensitive skin that are prone to breakouts.
Lastly, it promotes skin renewal. This and its soothing properties will help prevent scarring that often follows in the wake of spots.
Prevent and Improve Sun-Damaged Skin
If you don’t have aloe vera gel at hand but plenty of ginger in your kitchen, you can opt to apply fresh ginger juice to relieve the pain of a sunburn. Even if you did apply SPF, some of the sun’s rays still get you.
The most obvious sign of sun-damaged skin is of course a sunburn. But there are also wrinkles, uneven skin tone, melasma, dark spots, sagging, and more. Some of these tell-tale signs can be remedied with proper skin care.
With its powerful antioxidant gingerol and the other around 40 antioxidants, ginger can prevent lipid peroxidation in the skin. Lipid peroxidation is one of the main reasons for ageing caused by UV damage. So, adding to your routine can protect our skin’s lipid barrier.
As ginger also has wound repairing properties and boosts skin regeneration, it helps rejuvenate your skin. It improves the elasticity of your skin so that it appears more youthful. It also fades dark spots and evens out your skin tone.
Encourages smooth skin
In general, ginger promotes healthy skin. For one, it stimulates the blood circulation that is both detoxifying and allows your skin to absorb nutrients. Next, it can reduce skin roughness, encouraging soft and even skin that is smooth to the touch. Lastly, if you’re contending with large or plentiful pores and an oily complexion, it can improve your skin structure.
Other reasons to love ginger
You can also use ginger as a hair treatment or for your sun care.
Stimulate hair growth
For the same reasons that ginger boosts skin regeneration, you can also use it to stimulate hair growth.
Fight dandruff
Ginger is an aromatic and gentle remedy to treat dandruff. It’s not quite known what the causes for dandruff are, but it often is accompanied by inflammation of the scalp. As ginger is both antiseptic as well as anti-inflammatory, it can help relieve dandruff.
Boost metabolism
Instead of going on a diet, why not eat food seasoned with ginger? Ginger will help you twofold: It’s a metabolism booster, meaning it helps your body burn calories. And secondly, you don’t need to go on a diet with it and it will help you feel full – fully satiated. This helps limit your food intake.
Takeaway
You can use fresh ginger in the areas you want to treat. For example, you can just dab a slice of fresh ginger and let the juice dry. Do it regularly, once or twice a day over a longer period. You should see an improvement after a couple of weeks.
Leave us in the comments below if you want to have DIY ginger recipes.
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