5 Health Benefits of Fresh Ginger Ginger is one of nature's amazing medicines - it can do all sorts of great things for your health. If you're looking for ways to use fresh ginger (ginger root) for health, these are some of the best ways to do it: 1.Ginger for Treating PMS and Menstrual Cramps About a teaspoon of fresh ginger grated is amazing at easing painful menstrual cramps. Just take it with a big glass of water after, and you'll be surprised by how effective it can be. 2. Ginger for Treating Morning Sickness and Nausea Look at this fascinating study, featured in the magazine Obstetrics and Gynecology: "Researchers from the University of South Australia in Adelaide gave nearly 300 women either 350mg of ginger or 25mg of vitamin B6 three times per day for 3 weeks. The researchers found that both ginger and vitamin B6, which is sometimes taken to counteract morning sickness, worked equally well at alleviating nausea symptoms." 3. Ginger for a Healthy Heart Ginger has been shown to reduce the stickiness of blood platelets, so it may help reduce risk of atherosclerosis. It may also help reduce blood cholesterol levels - a problem more and more people are dealing with. Of course, as with any of the ideas in this article - talk to your doctor about using ginger for cholesterol problems, don't just do it on your own. 4. Ginger to Treat Arthritis Pain BBC News reported in 2001 that ginger is a natural alternative to treating arthritis pain. "A pill containing extracts of the root spice has proved to be as effective as conventional painkillers in a clinical trial. Rheumatologist Professor Ray Altman, who led the study, believes the highly-concentrated supplement could help to reduce the pain suffered by two out of three people with arthritis. He tested the supplement on 250 people with osteoarthritis, the most common form of the condition. Each was suffering from moderate to severe pain. Over a six week period, some were given a 255 milligram dose of the dietary supplement twice a day. The rest were given a placebo. Two-thirds of those given the ginger pills reported relief from pain - significantly more than those taking the placebo. 5. Treats Colds and Flus In Chinese medicine, natural root ginger has been used for centuries to clean the body of viruses such as colds and flus. If you have a cold or flu, a cup of real ginger tea using fresh ginger will be very soothing - and may help you get over your sickness more quickly! What Kind of Ginger Should You Use? Ginger ale - which our Moms always gave us when our tummies were upset - contains very little actual ginger, unless you go to the natural food store and get a more natural variety of the soda. Instead, use FRESH GINGER whenever possible - it's just got more of all the good stuff in it. You can also try a high quality powdered ginger pill. Selecting Good Fresh Ginger Fresh ginger should have relatively smooth skin, should feel heavy for the size of the piece of ginger, and should have a nice fragrant smell. If the ginger looks dried out or has no smell - choose a different piece. For the most health benefits, you'll want to choose the freshest ginger. Storing Ginger and Keeping it Fresh Store ginger in the fridge - it should keep nice and fresh for 2-3 weeks. Or, you can peel it and store it in whole chunks in the freezer for a couple of months. Just take out the pieces of ginger as you need it and grate. Using Fresh Ginger The easiest way to PEEL fresh ginger is with a regular teaspoon! It works well at removing the outer skin, while leaving all the fragrant fresh ginger flesh behind. Grating ginger is often the easiest way to use it for medicinal purposes - just use a regular grater, or a Microplane grater which creates a finer grate.