Opeyemi Ologun
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You may be housing a powerful migraine and headache cure in your spice cabinet.
The known history of ginger dates back abaout 5000 years. Its native home is debated but its medicinal and spiritual uses were first documented in Southeast Asia, India and China. Like many other spices, ginger was once a costly commodity.
In the 14th century, a pound of ginger cost as much as one sheep! By the middle of the 16th century, Europe was receiving more than 2000 tonnes of dried ginger a year from the East Indies. In the Middle Ages, it was used to ward off the plague and for a while it was so popular it was placed on the table like salt and pepper.
Ginger has been used since ancient times as an herbal remedy to treat a number of ailments from nausea and vomiting to arthritis and muscular aches. It houses a pharmacy of its own.
Ginger may be more useful as a complementary treatment rather than a replacement for more standard Migraine treatments.
A headache is one of the most common conditions that affects many of us. But instead of reaching for those painkillers, try using a natural method for instant relief ginger. Touted as an elixir for headaches, ginger acts on the very mechanism of the condition to reduce the pain one feels.
Ginger, like its relative turmeric, has gained a wide recognition due to its numerous health benefits. In fact, it is one of the top-selling herbal supplements in Nigeria
While ginger is best known as a calming remedy for indigestion, nausea, and upset stomach, this spicy, aromatic root may also be used to relieve headaches and migraine.
Ginger extracts may also increase serotonin, a chemical messenger involved with migraine attacks.
Increasing the serotonin levels in your brain may help stop migraine by reducing inflammation and restricting blood vessels.
A class of prescription medications called triptans treat migraine similarly.
According to medical Researchers, it was revealed that 250 mg of a ginger powder supplement decreased migraine symptoms almost as well as its prescription drug.
In an interview with The Hope, a Food Nutritionist, Mr Femi Adewale said that ginger is a natural plant that is high in gingerol, a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which is highly medicinal in nature.
. He further explained “It is suggested that raw ginger or proprietary ginger extracts may be useful as a home remedy for patients who experience an episode of migraine and headaches who, for certain reasons, cannot take established first-line treatments for acute migraine”.
” Ginger helps to reduce pain and neusea that often accompanies migraine. Adding ginger to meals, eating it raw or boiling it in water can help a great deal in reducing headache and migraine” Femi said.
“Taking ginger consistently can eventually cure headache and migraine completely”
Another Miss Kemi Olanipekun, also a Food Nutritionist added that ginger water is full of antioxidants, which play an important role in helping the body handle free radicals, lowering the risk of health conditions like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
She further said,” Ginger water is also rich in the mineral potassium, which helps in pain reduction and has a lot of health benefits”
“However, pregnant women should seek advice from the doctor before taking ginger as It is recommended that pregnant women who are close to labor or who’ve had miscarriages avoid ginger”.
The following are ways to take ginger as a means of curing headache and migraine;
- Take a ginger supplement
Most of the promising research on the beneficial effects of ginger for migraine used supplements that contain ginger extract or dried ginger powder. Therefore, ginger supplements are the most likely form of ginger to alleviate symptoms of headaches and migraines. - Apply ginger essential oil to your temples
Massaging ginger oil into the skin decreases pain in people with arthritis and back pain, and may also help to reduce pain from headaches.
For a migraine attack or tension headache, try massaging a few drops of the diluted ginger oil into your temples, forehead, and back of the neck once or twice daily.
- The aroma from the oil may also reduce nausea that commonly occurs with migraine.
- Try placing a drop of ginger oil on a tissue, gauze pad, or cotton ball and inhaling. You might also try adding one to two drops of oil into a warm bath or steam diffuser.
- Before applying to your skin, dilute the oil by placing one to two drops of ginger oil into a tablespoon of a carrier oil.
- Drink ginger water.
If you’re having a headache or migraine attack, try sipping ginger water.
It may reduce your headache pain and help calm a migraine-related upset stomach. Drink one or two cups per day.
You can make ginger ale at home. Here is how to make it;
- Boil 2 to 4 cups of water in a saucepan.
- Add ¼ to 1 cup of chopped or grated ginger along with a sweetener such as sugar or honey, to taste.
- Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, then strain.
- Mix the ginger solution with carbonated water. You can add additional flavor with mint or juice from fresh limes or lemons.
- Brew ginger tea
Sipping ginger tea is another tasty way to help sooth headache pain or reduce the nausea caused by a migraine attack.
Try drinking the tea when your headache first starts. If needed, drink another cup one or two hours later.
Ready-to-brew tea bags are available in food stores and online.
You can also prepare it at home:
- Add sliced or chopped ginger to 4 cups of boiling water.
- Steep for 5 to 10 minutes. Steeping longer will give it a stronger flavor.
- Remove from heat and flavor with lemon juice, honey, or sugar. It can be consumed either hot or cold.
- Add ginger to a meal
Adding ginger to a meal is another way you may benefit from the anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects of ginger.
You can add fresh ginger or dried ginger powder to flavor food dishes, but keep in mind that their flavors are slightly different.
Try adding fresh ginger to your salads, it can also be a tasty addition to chicken soup, or any kind of soup you make (apart from drawing soup e.g okro), jollof rice, and even some kinds of cookies.