Indian Cooking uses Ginger-Garlic Paste in various recipes generously. However, many people hate its taste, texture and smell especially kids. As a kid, I wasn’t a big fan of Ginger-garlic paste either but over the years as I learnt about several benefits of using this multi-purpose paste, it has become one of the must haves in my kitchen. Here are the 9 reasons that you should incorporate this useful paste in your cooking as well:
1. Ginger-Garlic help in Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Control. They both are potent blood thinners and assist common man in lowering blood pressure. They are so effective that many times if patients are on medical blood thinners, they are advised to stop eating ginger-garlic. Go figure out for yourself.
2. Ginger and Garlic both have properties to help treat and prevent variety of Cancers like stomach and colon cancers. Crushing garlic and letting it rest before cooking enhances its cancer-fighting properties.
3. Garlic is a powerful antioxidant and can help to protect the body against damaging free radicals. Also, the antioxidants power of ginger suppresses cellular production of nitric oxide which is a compound that produces toxic free radicals which accelerates tissue damage and inflammation.
4. In ancient medicine, Ginger has been used to help digestion and treat upset stomach, diarrhea, and nausea. These claims regarding potency of Ginger hold true even today. Garlic also stimulates digestion and helps with overall rejuvenation.
5. Ginger and garlic are anti-inflammatory agents and catalysts in disease prevention. Ginger reduces exercise-related muscle pain by one fourth. You can also take Ginger as a powerful pain management alternative if you can’t sustain anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen or aspirin. This might sound strange but when I was little and had earache or ear infection, my mom would chopped a clove, fry it in hot mustard oil and then would put warm oil in my ear after taking the garlic pieces out. She would seal my ear with a cotton ball to prevent oil from getting out. Most of the time it worked like magic. So, next time you have an ear infection try this simple remedy or better still boost your immune by including ginger-garlic paste in your cooking.
6. Ginger- Garlic ward off common colds. Ginger can not only be warming on a cold day, but can help promote healthy sweating, which is often helpful during colds and flus. Ginger helps by soothing sore throats and the inflammation of mucus membranes. It also encourages rest because of its mild sedative qualities. Garlic has powerful anti-viral properties too. Many people who use garlic on a regular basis claim that they have immunity from any cold and flu viruses.
7. Weight management becomes easier by including ginger- garlic in your diet. Allicin is the sulfur compound responsible for garlic’s pungent odor and its weight loss fighting properties. It is an effective appetite suppressant. Much better alternative than using weight loss pill or going on fad diets. A diet high in garlic encourages the nervous system to secrete adrenalin, a hormone that speeds up metabolism, leading to more calories burned and more pounds shed. Because of its warm nature Ginger acts as a metabolic aid with fat-burning properties and as an appetite suppressant. Now we all know that High cholesterol often is associated with an above average body mass index and obesity. Ginger not only reduces cholesterol levels, but also helps break down cholesterol into bile acids.
8. Ginger-garlic will also help you in your fight against allergies. During allergic attack try ginger, and garlic which help flush the body of toxins and their resultant allergy symptoms.
9. Time-Saver: Last but not least, it saves you a lot of valuable time in the kitchen. Although raw and fresh ginger and garlic are great for using in your recipes, sometimes it just makes more sense to open that ginger-garlic paste jar and quickly add a tbsp of paste in the pan especially when you are pressed for time.
Hope in this New Year 2014, you will use more and more of this paste in your cooking. All the best in your kitchen adventures!