Beans, Beans, The Magical Fruit...

NOT!  Magical fruit my @$$.  Though ginger isn't a fruit, it sure works the magic during cold/flu/sinus season.  All I have to say is, thank God for ginger.

When I get a cold, flu like symptoms, sinus issues, etc I don't reach for any over the counter meds.  I figure that Remicade Infusions and daily Lialda use are enough meds for one body.  I'm also highly paranoid of putting anything into my intestines, especially meds.  A few years ago I had a Crohn's relapse after taking DayQuil/NyQuil for a cold.  Since then, I try and avoid meds for any non-Crohn's related illnesses like the plague.  And so far, I've been successful all but one time.

I started juicing ginger a few years ago in an attempt to ward off sickness.  It worked each time until last year, when I ran out of ginger and didn't go to the market to get it for over a week.  Well, my health paid the price due to my inaction and laziness.  My cold developed into a nasty chest cold, and I was forced to get on antibiotic to treat pneumonia.  The antibiotic got rid of the the chest cold, but left me with the frustrated feeling of what if...what if I had only juiced a freakin' ginger root.  I swore to never do this again.

Up until last week I mostly used ginger for preventative medicine.  I would immediately juice ginger if I was around a coughing person, sick person, or any germy type situation.  A few years ago Matt came down with both strep throat and the flu at the same time.  I juiced ginger like a champ and never caught his sickness.  That was my first indication that this stuff was living up to it's super herb, super spice name. 

It was only until last week that juiced ginger truly fought off the nasty cold that I had caught.  In this scenario I was no longer on the offensive with ginger, but on the defensive.  I had a deep cough, was coughing stuff up, runny nose, was fatigued, etc etc.  I thought it was now or never, and hoped that the ginger would work.  If it didn't, I felt like I'd be screwed.  The Chinese have used it for centuries upon centuries as a natural healer...it sure as hell better work for me!  I had put my preventative medicine faith in it for a few years, I didn't want to think I was crazy!

True to its reputation, the ginger completely fought off my cold.  It took about four days for me to completely get over it, but I did.  And I didn't get on antibiotic or take any over the counter cold meds.  And like I said, it wasn't a light cold.  This cold was quickly getting to the same level as the nasty chest cold I had last year (the cold I had to get on antibiotic for).  Needless to say, I was relieved the ginger worked!    

So, my magic cold busting ginger juice recipe consists of two ingredients: carrots and ginger.  I use about 2-3 carrots and almost half of a large ginger root.  This drink is incredibly spicy.  It's guaranteed that after the first swig your sinus' and pores will automatically open up.  This is the kind of drink you want to be done drinking, but don't want to drink fast.  You just want to get it over with b/c of the taste!  But hey, it works.  I was drinking two carrot/ginger drinks a day.  It wasn't my favorite thing to do, but it crushed the cold!

This is one of my "smaller" ginger roots.  I used a medium-large sized banana for a reference point!

I would use about 3/4 of this ginger root in one drink.

A few times I brought a ginger root home from the market to find out it was molding from the inside out after tearing it apart.  That was incredibly annoying.  Now I break the freakin' ginger root in half at the grocery store to ensure that it is not moldy.  If, once you break it open, it has any tint of green around the rims, toss it.  

A "healthy" looking ginger root (no green)!!

Because of my cold I had to cancel my Remicade Infusion (b/c it's an immunosuppressant it can't be given when one is sick).  Ah, whatever...I'm rescheduled for next week.  It was frustrating not being able to ride my bike, but at least I got over my cold and was able to fly home to AZ!  All thanx to ginger!  Give the recipe a try...you need a juicer, but it's worth the buy!!