Ginger tea for a cold: preparation, effects & recipe

Even if it does not come from our latitudes, but from Asia – ginger is popular in Germany, as an ingredient for the kitchen and as a home remedy. Ing values ​​are not only available in Asian restaurants, but also as an alternative to peppermint & Co. in many cafés. Perhaps ginger is so familiar to us because he found his way to Europe during the Romans. And established itself there early on in the culinary world, for example as a ginger ale or gingerbread.

In folk medicine, ginger is used in the event of a cold, cough, runny nose, hoarseness. But is that scientifically proven? Or at least plausible?

First of all: In the “official” herbal medicine, that is, the plant portraits of the responsible commissions and specialist societies, which check and define medicinal plants and define them in their effectiveness and application, the ginger is primarily described as a plant that affects the digestive tract. Ginger stimulates the production of saliva and gastric juice, increases the tone in the digestive tract and promotes peristalsis, i.e. the muscle contraction of the intestine, so that the cheeky is moved forward.

A digestive plant is therefore the ginger, for which gastrointestinal complaints are listed in the currently valid descriptions in the application areas. Above all, ginger is the Plant against nausea, for example in the case of travel and seasickness. In the meantime, even in nausea after smaller operations with anesthesia, nausea in some chemotherapy for cancer or pregnancy disease in the first third of pregnancy, here, however, more in the form of a tea mix (i.e. low dosed) and request after consultation with the treating doctor.

And the ginger tea, which we like to brew so when cold, cough, hoarseness and runny nose? How does it fit into the picture?

In order to understand why ginger is used for colds, it is worth taking a small look at the medical history, the pre -scientific image of the sick person and the pharmaceutical plant. Here – and interestingly not only in Europe, but also in China and in Indian healing art Ayurveda – an excess of cold or warmth, moisture or drought was regarded as the cause of a disease. Medicinal plants were also categorized, whether they warm or cool, moisten or dry. The rest is a simple calculation: in the event of a disease caused by dryness, it was moistened in the event of an illness by too much heat.

The ginger is considered warming in all these old models. And is used accordingly in “cold diseases”. In the case of the cold, this seems to be clear, as the cold is already in the illness. But that is not necessarily correct after the historical models. Because whether a cold or a flu infection is associated with too much cold or not, depends on the symptoms in these historical concepts that are still used in complementary medicine: the runny nose with too much cold and moisture is more characterized by a feeling of cold, swollen, pale mucous membranes and ongoing nose. The runny nose with a feeling of wound, dry, red mucous membranes, feeling of heat and fever is more associated with heat and dryness.

Against this background, the ginger fits especially when a cold, especially when the cold pulls through the limbs and the need is that the metabolism and the blood circulation come up. But if there is already a lot of heat in the organism, the neck red and sore, the ginger burns in the throat, then you would rather refrain from a cold and flu infection and choose a milder plant.

So much for the “old look”. And what does modern phytopharmacology say about ginger in the event of a cold? This modern, scientific view always leads through the active ingredients: ginger is one of the sharp material drugs, as well as chilli or pepper. Sharp fabrics can actually bind to the skin and mucous membrane on thermaleceptors and thus convey a warming feeling or increase blood circulation. However, it is also not uninteresting with regard to the cold that ginger had an antiviral effect in the laboratory test.

Ginger is an excellent plant in order to counteract a general feeling of cold or a starting cold and to ensure more warmth from the inside and to boost the metabolism, which also benefits the immune system. How much the ginger warms can also be dosed in the “ginger tea”: a slice of ginger in a glass of water is a mild charm, more of a ginger water. The smaller the ginger is cut or even crushed, the hotter it is prepared, the longer it pulls, the sharper it is. And also whether it is dried or used fresh is important. A gingercover in which fresh ginger root is cut and crushed and which then simmer on the stove is much stronger in effect.

Sometimes it doesn’t have to be such a strong charm: a mild ginger tea can warm up. A piece of ginger in the chicken soup increases their effect. Geschwerkonfekt with a bitter chocolate coating is a wonderful gift for seniors and the very old, who is known to get cold a little faster. Or for friends whose menstrual complaints go hand in hand with a feeling of cold. And last but not least, ginger helps through stress phases if mental cold also wants to spread from the inside.