I’ll just say right up front that if ya’ll can incorporate fresh ginger root routinely into your weekly meals, then major high fives are being sent your way!
Why?
Ginger root contains powerful “bioactives” (in this case, “gingerols”), which are compounds that turn up or down the activity of genes in various cellular pathways in the body. The scientific research shows that ginger has impressive anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial effects. This has important implications when we look at managing oxidative stress and preventing disease states such as cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases.
I used to think ginger is just for stir frys and gingerbread cookies. Ha ha! But really, it’s time to think out of the box and incorporate ginger in other ways.
Because I’m a preparer of daily smoothies, I like to use fresh ginger root to provide some pop and zing zang in my liquid nutrition. Here’s a recent simple and quick smoothie throw together in which I used a few clementines that were starting to not feel as juicy and fresh anymore.
Ingredients:
1 c (240 ml) unsweetened almond milk (you can use any milk)
2 clementines (“Cuties”), peeled
~2 Tbsp (~15 gm) unsweetened coconut flakes
a good “thumb amount” (~20 gm) of fresh ginger root (I don’t peel it; if you don’t have a powerhouse blender, you may want to loosely chop the ginger)
1 full scoop (~30 gm) of vanilla whey isolate (I used the Thorne brand; you can use any vanilla protein powder but add at least 20 grams of protein)
ice/water as desired
Throw all ingredients in the blender and let ‘er rip.
Basic nutrition info:
350 kilocalories
30 gm carbohydrate
7 gm fiber
26 gm protein
14 gm fat
1:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein
This is such a refreshing smoothie! I’d love for you to try it, or give on of your other smoothie an upgrade by adding fresh ginger root. Let me know what you try!
Enjoy,
-Dina