THE MANY USES OF GINGER
The underground stem of plant native to Asia has long been employed as folk medicine and spice — but that's not all
The first time I got interested in ginger was on a trip to New York City in 2013. I was keen on touring the New York Hall of Science, a museum that had its origins in the 1964 New York World's Fair, which I had attended.
Back then, I was a big fan of the space program and was very impressed by the rockets on display, especially the Mercury capsule that had carried astronaut Scott Carpenter into Earth orbit in 1962. I was anxious to see the Rocket Park again and was not disappointed. It had been expanded with pristine versions of the Titan II and Atlas rockets that had carried Gemini and Mercury capsules into space. There were also various exhibits about molecules, microbes and inventions.
I was especially drawn to Gingerbread Lane, a gingerbread village created by chef Jon Lovitch that, the description said, weighed 1.5 tons and covered 300 square feet. It was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest ever gingerbread village.
Gingerbread can be traced back to the 11th century and has been a holiday favourite ever since, partly because besides imparting flavour, ginger also acts as a preservative. The tradition of making gingerbread houses seems to be connected to Hansel and Gretel, the Grimm brothers' tale in which two children abandoned in a forest come upon an edible house decorated with candy. German bakers took to baking gingerbread houses, capitalizing on the story's popularity.
What we refer to as ginger is the underground stem of a plant native to Asia. It has a long history of use not only as a spice, but as a folk medicine, mostly for digestive problems and nausea. Like any plant, ginger is composed of many compounds, with the pungency of fresh ginger as well as the anti-nausea effect being due to “gingerol.”
When ginger is heated, gingerol is converted into zingerone, as well as into a class of compounds known as the shogaols, all of which contribute to flavour and pungency.
Several lab studies have examined ginger's potential for biological activity and managed to find some antibacterial and anti-cancer effects, but this is not surprising. There are numerous compounds that have such activity “in vitro,” but rarely translate to any clinical benefit. The most significant effect that has been demonstrated in people, although not in all trials, is some efficacy in treating nausea during pregnancy and chemotherapy. Ginger has a tradition as a “stomach settler” and shogaols, specifically, are claimed to have an anti-coughing effect, but the evidence is anecdotal.
Ginger also has some irritant properties, something that once found an unusual application. In the 16th and 17th centuries, ginger was used to make a horse carry its tail high and move in a livelier fashion. How? By inserting into the horse's rectum a piece of ginger whittled into a suppository-like shape! Horse traders would do this to make an older horse behave like a younger one or to temporarily liven up a sick animal. The process was known as feaguing. Apparently, although illegal, ginger-based creams are applied to the rectum of show horses even today. If detected, the horse is disqualified. In days of yore, there was something else used on horses in a fashion similar to a piece of ginger. A live eel was a physical irritant that made the horse step more sprightly.
These days, it seems it is not only horse breeders who are into gingering, now also known as “figging.” Some people engage in the practice because they find the burning sensation produced by ginger, albeit painful, also erotic. To each his own.
Believe it or not, eeling is also a real phenomenon. There are several cases recorded in the medical literature documenting the removal of eels from the rear portals. In one instance, emergency room physicians in a New Zealand hospital had to extricate a wriggling creature from a patient. Respecting the patient's privacy, details about how the eel ended up in the man's nether region were not revealed, but a spokesperson confirmed that “the eel was about the size of a decent sprig of asparagus and the incident is the talk of the place.” I bet it was.
In another episode in China, a factory worker was rushed to a hospital after complaining of a terrible stomach ache. Doctors were shocked to find a half-metre long expired Asian swamp eel in his intestines, along with fecal matter. At first the man claimed the eel entered “by mistake,” but later admitted he had tried to cure his constipation in this unique fashion.
A more traditional way to address digestive problems is by drinking ginger ale. Many people apparently purchase the beverage with the belief that the ginger it contains has various health attributes and “settles the stomach.” When some consumers discovered that the “natural flavour” responsible for the taste only contains about two parts per million of actual ginger extract, which is less than what humans can detect, and is way too little to have any health benefit, they decided to launch a number of class-action lawsuits. They argued that the label stating “Made With Real Ginger” was misleading to people who believed the drink could help with their digestive issues.
In a recent Canadian case, Canada Dry settled for $200,000 with a man who claimed the company had engaged in false advertising. One wonders if Canada Dry executives tried to settle their stomach with ginger ale after that settlement.