In this article:
- How ginger tea enhances digestion and reduces bloating and flatulence.
- A simple and inexpensive way to make fresh ginger tea at home.
- How use ginger tea to treat bloating, intestinal cramps and flatulence, or use it to stop them ever becoming an issue in the first place.
- Where to find strong ginger tea online.
How Ginger Tea Improves Digestion and Prevents Bloating and Flatulence
Ginger is a potent herbal remedy for a variety of ailments. It has a particularly beneficial effect on your digestive system and, made into a strong tea, can be used to treat stomach bloat, abdominal pain and flatulence.
Taken just before eating, the phenolic compounds in ginger stimulate saliva, bile and gastric juice production. This can improve digestion and lead to less intestinal gas formation from poorly broken down foods in your lower intestine.
While prevention is better than a cure, ginger tea can also be effective as an emergency remedy for a bloated tummy and other kinds of gastrointestinal distress. It’s volatile oils have similar smooth muscle relaxant properties to those found in fennel tea and peppermint.
Bloating and cramps are usually caused by tension and spasms in the smooth muscles of your gastrointestinal tract. When these intestinal muscles come into contact with the volatile oils found in ginger tea, contractions diminish and trapped gases can be released.
This same calmative effect on your digestive system also makes ginger tea useful for preventing flatulence problems. By relaxing the gastrointestinal tract, ginger tea helps the food you eat pass through your system more easily. This reduces food fermentation and build up of gases in the colon.
How to Make Fresh Ginger Tea
Here’s a simple way to make ginger tea at home from fresh ginger:
- Get a medium sized ginger rhizome, preferably without wrinkled skin or too many joints or blemishes.
- Scrub it under hot water and, with a sharp knife, carefully cut 4 to 6 thin slices and put them in a mug.
- Pour just boiled water over the ginger slices and leave to steep for around 5 minutes.
- You can add a little lemon juice or a drop of stevia if you like (though avoid flatulence feeding sugar).
- Sip slowly, just before or during a meal, or whenever you need to alleviate trapped intestinal gas.
If you prefer the convenience, there are some great tasting ginger tea bags available. It’s important to get a strong versions though. Weak ginger tea is unlikely to have the same beneficial effect.
When to Drink Ginger Tea
The best time to make ginger tea is just before a big meal. By stimulating more saliva, bile and gastric juices with ginger’s volatile oils, you can help prevent digestive problems later on.
While drinking large amounts of liquid with a meal isn’t usually recommended, slowly sipping a cup of ginger tea while you eat is a good habit to get into. It’s certainly much better for your digestion than drinking coffee, fruit juice or soda.
If you already have a bloated stomach, then a strong cup of ginger tea can usually provide quick relief. It’s also recommended for acid reflux and nausea and has many other health benefits with few side effects.
Ginger tea can be quite stimulating and is reported to improve mood and increase circulation. You may find fennel tea a better choice in the evening, but drinking a good organic ginger tea like this one is a great choice before breakfast or lunch. It’s a extremely healthy beverage that can help prevent bloating and flatulence ever happening.
Actions:
- The next time you are experiencing digestive discomfort, try cutting up 4 to 6 thin slices of fresh ginger and pouring very hot water over them for homemade ginger tea.
- If you enjoy ginger tea you can also try high strength organic tea bags like this that you can take to work or keep in a bag for whenever you need them.
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