Gingerly Eating Out

Growing up in a Chinese household, I was often embarrassed by what seemed to be the comparatively odd habits of my family, especially when we would go out to eat. My parents would always request hot water, instead of ice water, when the server would ask for their drink order. The server would usually look at them strangely before fetching it, probably, I assumed, thinking that they were too cheap to order hot tea.

What they really wanted was, in fact, hot water. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, drinking cold liquids and eating cold foods, is taxing to the system, and therefore bad for digestion. Since it takes the stomach extra energy to heat up the cold food and drink before the body can start the digestion process to extract nutrients, indigestion can occur, especially in constitutionally weaker individuals. The resulting sluggishness can cause dampness to accumulate in the body, potentially leading to other health problems, including inflammation.

Avoiding cold drinks, eating lightly cooked foods, and adding warming herbs and spices to dishes, especially ginger, are all beneficial to the digestive process. Especially now that we are moving into the colder months, a nice warming cup of ginger tea made from dried ginger root (gan jiang), or fresh ginger root (sheng jiang), if you prefer it less spicy, can really benefit the stomach. Ginger is also said to boost immunity and can help fight off colds.

So, have a cup of ginger tea each day to keep the doctor away.

Ginger Tea

1 quart water
1 5-inch knob of organic fresh ginger, sliced or ½ cup of organic dried ginger
Honey to taste (optional)

Heat to a boil and then simmer at least one hour, depending on how strong you like your tea. Makes 4 cups of tea.