About 5,000 years back, ginger has been used by the Indians and Chinese people considered it a very strong and potent spice and medical remedy. Even if ginger originated in Asia, it was planted and harvested in many places around the world. From the past to the present, it is widely produced spice and herb in the globe. Ancient writings prove and show that ginger is a herb used for many purpses from cooking and even health purposes. As a matter of fact, ancient literature shows the use of ginger in the Middle East, Asia and parts of Europe.
Trading and dealing of ginger plants and rhizomes were done thousand of years ago. For this reason, ginger is well-known for many civilizations before. It was used by the Romans but almost disappeared during the Roman Empire. However, Marco Polo, an explorer went to the East to explore spices and learned about ginger. It was once the most expensive spice because of its many uses and its rich history, it was made affordable to all.
During the15th century, ships carried ginger from India to other countries like Africa and the Carribean. This made ginger well known in many countries hence up to date, it is widely used in cooking as well as in alternative medicine.
Ginger has been well known for its medicinal properties in the past centuries and it is attested effective in many illnesses like dyspepsia. Actually, an ancient book entitled, "De Materia Medica" authored by a Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist, Pedanius Dioscorides, showed that ginger has the ability to warm the stomach.
Queen Elizabeth I of England was the one who invented the gingerbread man which is a famous biscuit up to the present time. In medicinal properties, ancient Chinese used ginger in curing many diseases. Chinese people were well-known for their voyages and peddling in other countries so ginger played a significant role in their travels. They used ginger to avoid motion sickness especially when they are sailing on oceans. Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic Indians regarded ginger as a healing plant from God and it was used for sacred ceremonies and healings.
Also, Koran beliefs claim that ginger has spiritual value and importance. Aside from being spiritually important, ginger has been used in various medicinal purposes. For example, Chinese medicine claim that Conficius in 500 B.C. tackled about ginger as a digestive medicine. Hence, he always eat foods with ginger.
Ginger has been widely used in the past as tonic for the system, hormone balancer, energy enhancer, and agent for enhancing the appetite and circulation. The Japanese use ginger to relieve joint pains while the Chinese used it for toothaches, colds and flu.
Truly, ginger is a very useful herb not only in some countries but now, all over the world.
