Pickled ginger: benefits and harm for the whole body

Composition of the product

Surprisingly, pickled ginger root has no less beneficial properties than fresh one . Despite the pungent taste, it does not damage the digestive organs - on the contrary, its disinfecting effect has a beneficial effect on the health of the gastrointestinal tract.

This spice contains the following ingredients:

• vitamins A, C, group B;
• amino acids: lysine, tryptophan, threonine, phenylalanine;
• micro- and macroelements (potassium, magnesium, iron, sodium, zinc, phosphorus, copper, calcium);
• essential oils;
• gingerol.

The calorie content of the product is only 28 kcal per 100 g .

Composition and calorie content of the product

Any housewife knows that marinade kills most of the beneficial components of the product. However, this does not apply to ginger, which, even in pickled form, retains excellent nutritional qualities.

The spice is valued for its high content:

• vitamins – A, C, E, K, PP, group B;
• antioxidants;
• organic acids;
• minerals, in particular salts of sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc;
• tannins;
• complex of amino acids.

The spice contains a lot of plant fiber, necessary for normal digestion, as well as gingerol, a substance that gives ginger its pungent taste. Even though it is partially destroyed upon contact with vinegar, a moderate amount of it remains in the composition.

Like many products of plant origin, pickled ginger is low in calories - 100 g contains approximately 51 kcal. When added to a finished dish, spice does not affect its energy value.

Beneficial features

The pickled root has almost the same set of beneficial properties as the fresh one. It has a beneficial effect on many organ systems:

• Digestive system . This spice improves the digestion process, increases gastric secretion and eliminates cramps and flatulence. Thanks to its disinfecting properties, it effectively fights poisoning and quickly destroys parasites. Stops inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, cleans it, and freshens breath.
• Circulatory system .
  The product improves cerebral circulation and stimulates the supply of oxygen to brain tissue. It increases mental productivity, eliminates headaches, tones, and provides strength and energy. Equally useful for workers in the intellectual sphere and physical labor.
• The cardiovascular system.
  It has a beneficial effect on the condition of the heart and blood vessels, as it has the ability to cleanse their walls of accumulations of “bad” cholesterol. Prevents the formation of blood clots, and thanks to the content of potassium and magnesium, it normalizes heart rhythm and improves myocardial function.
• Reproductive system. Translated from Chinese, the word “ginger” means “masculinity.” There are few foods as beneficial for men's health as ginger (fresh or pickled).
  It fights prostatitis and other inflammatory diseases of the prostate gland, enhances potency, and restores libido.

  It is also useful for women to eat this spice: it tones the muscles of the uterus and relieves infertility.

• Nervous system . Due to its high magnesium content, the root can have a positive effect on the nervous system: it fights chronic stress and relieves nervous tension.
• Respiratory system . Facilitates the well-being of patients suffering from chronic bronchitis or bronchial asthma.

Pickled ginger is one of the best helpers in the fight against cancer. Prevents the formation of new tumors and slows down the development of existing ones.

High content of antioxidant substances slows down the aging process!

Benefits and harms for the human body

Is the product useful and for what?

Ginger is very beneficial for the body . This is due to its rich chemical composition. You could even say that this seemingly inconspicuous root is a whole natural pharmacy. Ginger has the following effects on the body:

• pain reliever;
• anti-inflammatory;
• wound healing;
• tonic;
• antimicrobial;
• improves hair growth;
• cleanses the kidneys, liver and respiratory tract;
• removes bile and water;
• has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

The use of ginger for weight loss is very widespread. Rapid weight loss due to its use is due to its positive effect on metabolic processes.

Root:

• converts food into heat;
• prevents the formation of fatty deposits;
• cleanses the body of waste and toxins;
• reduces gas formation;
• prevents Alzheimer's disease;
• gives strength for an active life.

Watch an interesting video about the benefits of pickled ginger:

Contraindications

Despite the wide range of beneficial properties, the root also has a number of contraindications :

1. Heart problems (heart attacks, strokes).
2. Ulcer, gastritis, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, cholelithiasis and other gastrointestinal diseases.
3. Third trimester of pregnancy and breastfeeding period.
4. Individual intolerance;
5. Cramps.
6. Insomnia.

Harm

Excessive consumption of ginger can cause exacerbation of gastritis, colitis and other gastrointestinal diseases. The essential oils contained in pickled ginger can cause an allergic reaction - rash, redness and more serious symptoms.

In addition, if you eat too much ginger, your cardiovascular and nervous system will be overstimulated. This can lead to anxiety, insomnia and increased heart rate.

In what form and how to use

The ready-to-eat product does not require additional heat treatment. It is best to eat this spice along with other dishes: meat, fish. Add it to sushi and rolls .

Ginger roots favorably emphasize the taste of these dishes and prevent infection by pathogenic bacteria , which may be contained in raw fish or undercooked meat.

It can be eaten as a separate dish, but it is important not to overdo it: the hot, hot seasoning can lead to irritation of the gastric mucosa . Sometimes the roots become an ingredient in other dishes: they are added to salads, roasts, pies; Meat for barbecue is marinated in juice.

Video about the benefits and possible harm of ginger, how to prepare it at home:

Various types and methods of serving

Gari - analogue of coffee beans in perfumery

If you were surprised by this assumption, know that it is true, this is what the Japanese population thinks. Gari is a unique product; none of the other products on your table have the properties of “nullifying” the taste. You will see for yourself that burning can overwhelm the taste of the sushi you eat, but the desire to eat does not disappear, but increases.

The taste buds are developed by the touch of pickled ginger on your tongue and react in a special way. Gari is prepared directly from the youngest roots. Are you wondering why pickled ginger is pink? It’s simple, young roots have a delicate structure, and under the influence of the marinade they change color to soft pink. Simply put, gari is what we are used to eating along with sushi.

Gari is served with sushi and only with it!

Pickled pink ginger is recommended to be consumed in between picking up new sushi with chopsticks. And also after eating to cleanse the taste and neutralize harmful substances if they were present in the fish. Each new piece of sushi will reveal new facets of taste to you, and all this thanks to the burning.

Under no circumstances should you eat pickled ginger at the same time as sushi and wasabi, “washing it all down” with soy sauce. You will only feel full, but the taste will disappear. You need to eat right - the Japanese way!

Urumaki with pickled ginger "gari"

This property of ginger is very useful if you need to remove the aftertaste before a new portion of sushi. It is not necessary to eat a lot of ginger; just a few cloves are enough and your meal will be truly delicious. After all, this is not a snack, but a kind of refreshment, an aromatic product, the purpose of which is to subdue the taste and reveal it already renewed.

Beni-shoga - ginger snack

In this case, we can say that pickled ginger is a real snack during a meal. It is prepared from the more fibrous mature roots and pickled in the same way as the young one. And it is served with other meat and fish dishes, excluding sushi. The purpose of the product is to add piquancy and refreshment to the dish. Beni-shoga improves digestion and is as beneficial as gari.

Ginger does not change color during cooking, so the Japanese found it advisable to marinate it in plum vinegar to give it a bright color. You can eat at least a few servings of this snack and you are unlikely to be condemned for it in one of the restaurants in Japan. The fact is that, unlike gari, this product can be consumed a lot, it does not interrupt the taste of the dish.

But how can you distinguish the first product from the second in the store... It’s simple - the hieroglyphs are usually translated into Russian, you need to carefully read the ingredients on the packaging. The Japanese use rice or plum vinegar for pickling; there is no other option.

Unscrupulous producers strive to sell ginger at any cost, literally and figuratively. Therefore, ginger is colored with wine or even synthetic dyes (E 124); be careful when choosing this product.

Contraindications

In moderate quantities, the product is completely safe for the body. But if you eat it as an independent dish, symptoms of poisoning may appear - heartburn, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting. Sometimes an allergic rash occurs.

People suffering from the following diseases should not eat:

• peptic ulcer;
• colitis;
• allergic dermatitis;
• viral hepatitis or cirrhosis of the liver;
• heart attack or stroke;
• hypertension;
• gallstone disease.

Late pregnant women , nursing mothers, and people with individual intolerance to the product should refrain from consuming this spice

You should not feed it to small children (under 3 years old). Their digestive system is not yet ready to accept the rather aggressive substances included in the composition.

Is it different from fresh?

Pickled ginger is not suitable as a source of calories because it loses some of it during processing. However, it is able to enrich the body with other beneficial substances. Many argue that only the fresh root brings benefits, and after contact with vinegar, it loses its properties. In fact, only a small part of vitamins can be destroyed, while the quantitative content of organic acids increases.

Thin slices of ginger root in pickled form lose their pungency and astringency, acquire a spicy taste, and a soft structure. They do not irritate the intestines, are easier to digest, and do not cause allergies. Appetizing slices can be consumed as an independent dish or as an addition to the main meal. As for the benefits, the body receives no less vitamins and microelements from a pickled product than from a fresh one.

Other uses

Since the product has a lot of healing properties, it is used to treat certain diseases and as an effective means of combating excess weight.

For treatment

For treatment, it is enough to eat a few pieces of pickled root daily. Due to its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, it is used in therapy:

• ARVI, sinusitis, bronchitis, influenza, sore throat;
• arthritis, rheumatic joint diseases;
• bacterial diseases of the oral cavity;
• headache.

The product has an antiemetic effect , eliminates signs of seasickness and toxicosis in early pregnancy.

For weight loss

Is ginger good for weight loss? It speeds up metabolic processes and effectively fights excess weight.

The substance gingerol , contained in large quantities in this product, normalizes metabolism, accelerates the process of fat breakdown, removes toxins and waste, and acts as a mild laxative. This spice is recommended for people on a diet.

For weight loss, it is best to prepare the roots yourself . Ingredients:

• 0.5 tbsp. l. wine vinegar;
• 250 g fresh ginger root;
• 2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 5 tbsp. l. boiled water;
• 5 tbsp. l. dry red wine;
• salt.

The root needs to be cut into circles, put in a deep container, pour boiling water over it, add salt, and cook for 7 minutes . Then drain the water and cool the ginger.

At this time you need to prepare the marinade : mix hot water, sugar, wine, vinegar.

Place chopped ginger in a glass jar and pour the resulting marinade over it. Store the product for three days at room temperature .

Then it is sent to the refrigerator. Use daily as an additive to fish or meat.

Pickling your own ginger

The quality and bright taste of the product is guaranteed by hand-made preparation. Below are two popular recipes for making pickled ginger at home.

Based on the suggested recipes, you can understand why pickled ginger has a pink color - not because of the wine (this ingredient enhances the color), but because of the vinegar. This version of the recipe is more expensive, but it is considered original. In the first recipe, the root is pickled with apple cider vinegar, so the product loses its color. To imitate the “rosiness”, you can add beet juice.

How to select and store

Pickled root is available at any grocery store. To buy a quality product, you need to evaluate its color: it should not be too bright. Properly prepared ginger is light pink or yellowish (depending on the variety) in color. If the product on the shelf has a bright pink tint, it was most likely colored with artificial colors or beet juice.

It should be stored in the refrigerator and in a tightly closed jar. The shelf life after opening the package is no more than a month.

Pickled ginger is a tasty and healthy spice. This is a real storehouse of vitamins and is very valuable for health. Pickled ginger brings no less benefits than fresh ginger . By eating a couple of pieces of this product daily, you can minimize the risk of many serious diseases.

E. Malysheva and her colleagues will tell you why regular and pickled products are useful:

How to choose pickled ginger

Choose pickled ginger based on its color - the more intense it is, the younger the root was used for pickling, which means its taste and structure will be more delicate.

Recipes for healthy dishes with pickled ginger

Chicken Salad with Pickled Ginger and Sesame Seeds

Cut two medium tomatoes into cubes, one bell pepper into strips, mix with chopped lettuce and two teaspoons of pickled ginger. Fry the chicken breast with chicken seasonings in vegetable oil, add salt and pepper, after cooling, cut into small pieces and add to the vegetables so that it lies on top. Prepare the dressing by mixing 1 tablespoon of honey, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Pour the dressing over the salad and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Pink ginger in marinade

Rice vinegar or rice wine helps the ginger change color - it becomes soft pink. The older the roots, the more fibrous, pungent, and less likely they are to change color.

When using wine vinegar and plain wine, coloring does not occur.

The color may change only if red wine, which contains dyes, was used. In the case of a marinade with white wine and wine vinegar, the appetizer can be tinted with a few tablespoons of plum or beet juice added during cooking.

Possible harm from its use

• When eating pickled ginger, you should keep in mind that there are contraindications for its use. It can be harmful to human health if consumed in large quantities. Undesirable side effects may occur: diarrhea, vomiting, malaise.
• If you have stomach problems, especially stomach ulcers, then eating pickled ginger is simply contraindicated.
• If you have diseases of the liver or gall bladder, you should also avoid this seasoning.
• It is not recommended to use during pregnancy, especially immediately before childbirth. It is also contraindicated when breastfeeding.
• If you have high blood pressure, you should avoid this seasoning.
• Increased individual intolerance is also a reason for refusing to use it.

How to marinate at home

It’s easy to pickle the root yourself. In addition, the homemade product excludes the presence of third-party additives, such as flavor enhancers, dyes, flavors, preservatives, and anti-caking agents, which manufacturers often resort to.

The simplest marinade recipe: 1.5 parts rice vinegar, one part sugar, ¼ part salt, ¼ dry red wine. Bring the mixture to a boil, pour in peeled chopped ginger.

You can use apple cider vinegar in the same proportion. In 9% table water, first add ½ volume of water, salt, sugar to taste. For better preservation, it is recommended to add vodka or cognac (1 tablespoon per glass of marinade).

Very tasty ginger is made with cranberries; ½ volume of vinegar is replaced with chopped berries. This product is especially good for colds and is used as a vitalizing agent.

Storage rules

It is recommended to store fresh ginger root in the refrigerator for no more than 20 days, wrapped in cling film. When processing it before marinade, it is preferable to remove the skin as thinly as possible, so as not to affect the layers containing aromatic essential oils.

After pickling, the root in brine can be stored in the refrigerator for 1 to 6 months. Pre-sterilized storage containers should be glass or ceramic with a well-lapped lid. To prevent the ginger from becoming chapped and dehydrated, it must be completely covered with the prepared marinade.

What to combine ginger with?

Of course, most people associate pink pickled ginger exclusively with Japanese dishes. But stereotypes aside! Experiment and you will realize that this appetizer is an indispensable find for any meal.

• In general, the original purpose of this dish on the table in Asian cuisine establishments is to refresh the palate. That is, it must be eaten between different types of dishes so that their tastes do not mix and do not interfere with appreciating the original charm of each dish.
• It is ideal to combine it with meat and fish dishes, especially if they have a fairly simple taste, without additional pronounced components. Then the spicy, islandy and slightly sweet taste of this snack will make the dishes sparkle in a new way.
• It is interesting to use it as a snack with rice or noodles. The fresh taste of these products is wonderfully compensated and diversified by pickled ginger.
• If you are not averse to experimenting, you can try adding this product to soups. Spicy spice in familiar dishes – isn’t that great?

How to use ginger to maintain youth?

Ginger is considered a powerful natural antioxidant. To prolong youth, nutritionists recommend starting to introduce root vegetables into your diet from the age of 30.

This will allow you to delay symptoms of aging for a long time, such as:

• slagging of the body;
• accumulation of free radicals in it;
• decreased elasticity of blood vessels;
• excess cholesterol;
• disruptions in the gastrointestinal tract, nervous, endocrine systems

Ginger helps maintain mental clarity and sexual performance for a long time. It is necessary to eat root vegetables of various methods of preparation systematically, but in reasonable quantities (on average no more than 120-150 g per day). Brief heat treatment of ginger increases its effectiveness. Effective results can also be obtained from consuming ginger in combination with garlic.