Mia Lane
Ginger can be found in numerous Asian dishes and is also becoming increasingly popular with us. And rightly so, because the tuber heats us up from the inside and tastes pleasantly hot. But is it actually healthy to eat raw ginger?
Ginger has valuable ingredients such as essential oils, potassium and vitamin C.
Not only can you use ginger in Asian dishes or tea, you can also eat it raw.
However, raw ginger is spicy – you should not consume too much of it.
Ginger can score with many healthy ingredients: The yellow root is full of gingerol and other pungent substances as well as essential oils. It also has vitamin C, magnesium, iron, calcium, sodium, phosphate and a lot of potassium.
Ginger is effective against nausea, inflammation and pain. Ginger also has a lot to offer when it comes to taste, the ginger root tastes spicy and hot. Ginger is mainly known from Asian cuisine and brewed as a tea. But can you eat ginger raw?
Eat ginger raw or better cook it?
Important in advance: If you buy ginger from conventional cultivation, there could still be pesticides on the skin. You should therefore peel the tuber. However, since important nutrients are located directly under the skin, it is better to use organic ginger. You can also eat it unpeeled, but you should wash it thoroughly beforehand.
Eating raw ginger – the pros and cons
Anyone who eats ginger raw can be sure that the valuable ingredients are preserved in the root. For example, the vitamin C in ginger could be lost during cooking.
The disadvantage: raw ginger is particularly hot. The pungent gingerol weakens slightly when heated. If you can’t or don’t want to eat that spicy, you’d rather prepare a ginger tea or season your soup or curry with fresh ginger instead of eating ginger on its own.
On the other hand, if you eat ginger raw, you should not eat more than about fifty grams of fresh ginger a day for a long period of time. Higher amounts may no longer be healthy because too much raw ginger could lead to gas, diarrhea, and heartburn. Since raw ginger tastes quite spicy, we usually don’t reach these amounts anyway.
Tip: It is best to store unpeeled ginger in a dry and cool place. The root will keep for a few weeks. With a cut ginger root, simply cut off the dry end and use the rest as usual. When shopping, you can recognize fresh ginger by its smooth and firm skin.
