In a study published in the Journal of the Science and Food of Agriculture in 2014, researchers found that overweight rats who were given gingerol (a compound found in ginger) were able to lose weight after a 30-day supplementation period. The rats also showed improvements to blood sugar levels and leptin levels.
Another study published the prior year in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciencesshowed that ginger supplementation had an equal impact on rat weight loss as a popular weight-loss medication, Orlistat. Additionally, the ginger caused noteworthy improvements to blood cholesterol level, with “good” cholesterol levels (HDL) up from their baseline level.
With ginger’s power to help you feel full and help you properly digest your food, it’s no wonder that it shows such a strong impact on weight loss.
How Ginger Helps Battle Belly Fat
Not only can ginger help with weight maintenance in general, it can also keep that pesky belly fat at bay. Ginger can target the main reasons that belly fat accumulates, such as overeating, hormonal changes and low energy leading to lack of exercise.
Ginger helps you to feel full, so eating ginger or drinking ginger water can help curb the urge to overeat. Hormonal changes and chronic stress can cause spikes in levels of blood cortisol, which throws the immune system and metabolism out of balance.
According to an article in the Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin of 2004, ginger suppresses cortisol production. 3 Elevated levels of cortisol may contribute to weight gain, especially making it hard to lose belly fat and I’ve mentioned it in my post on how to reset your hormones to lose weight and in my posts on how to lose belly fat without exercise.
Consuming ginger can help bring the internal balance back in tune and promote well-being and weight loss. Ginger’s sharp, distinctive flavor can also help naturally boost your energy levels, both physically and mentally.
How to Use Ginger for Weight Loss
If you want to use the healing powers of ginger to lose weight, here’s what to do. Before eating, chew on a thin slice of ginger root. This will help in regulating metabolism, stimulating digestion, reducing cortisol production and increasing energy.
You can also grate a small piece of ginger and add a squeeze of lemon juice and a dash of salt, then mix the ingredients. Eating a couple of small pinches of this mixture before you eat each of your meals helps to control appetite and aid digestion.
Alternatively you can make this ginger lemon tea as lemon can also aid weight loss and I’ve mentioned it in my post on how to use lemons to lose weight.
Don’t limit your ginger intake to before meals—use ginger as a spice in your cooking whenever you can to increase your ginger intake. Luckily, ginger has a tasty flavor that doesn’t need to be “masked” in order to reap the rewards the plant has to offer.
Put 1 inch of grated fresh ginger root (or 1 tsp. of powdered ginger) into a heat-tolerant glass with a 2-cup capacity. Boil water and pour over the ginger. Allow the grated root to steep in the water for at least 10 minutes.
Strain the root from the tea. Add a teaspoon or two of raw honey and a squeeze of lemon juice if desired. Honey and lemon have their own health benefits that can increase the potency of this wonderful tea.
Alternatively you can mix or replace the water with Matcha tea which can help you burn fat four times faster.
Other Health Benefits of Ginger
Not only does ginger aid in weight loss, it can also reduce inflammation, reduce nausea and quell vomiting, and even kill cancer cells. You can also use ginger to make a special healing drink to detox your body and fight numerous diseases.
Dry, powdered ginger can keep for many months when stored in an airtight glass container in a cool, dark place. A fresh ginger root can be kept potent by storing it in the refrigerator and will keep for up to three weeks. You can even freeze the root to lengthen its lifespan—it will keep for up to half a year in the freezer.
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