(Not a) Warning: Ginger is gingerously good to your health

Published: August 24, 2019 10:15am | Philippines

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a flowering plant that is widely used as a spice. Believed to be cultivated by Southeast Asians and Oceania islanders over 7,000 years ago, the plant was introduced to the West through contacts with the Greek and later on, Roman civilizations.

The plant then reached to India and South Asia during the peak of the Spice Trade and its medicinal uses also began to take shape then.
In the Philippines, the plant called luya is widely used as a condiment or spice due to its tangy taste. Its rhizomes, called hands, are either consumed fresh, dehydrated, pickled or powdered. The rhizomes are also either ground or served as whole or in cuts and mixed with hot water and drank as tea.

In a paper by Mamaril published by the Philippine Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry (DA-BPI), ginger acts as a medicinal plant by stimulating gastric juice in the stomach. It also relieves cough and flu and is used to treat migraine, travel sickness and rheumatoid arthritis.

The paper asserts that ginger is known to improve blood circulation and reduce fat deposits in the arteries.
Rahman, et. al, in a paper published 2014 on the US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) pointed out ginger’s active ingredients that may help prevent diseases.

They said numerous clinical studies have been conducted which showed ginger’s positive role in the health management and disease prevention through “modulation of genetic and metabolic activities.”

They said ginger has essential oil and a compound called oleoresin that exhibited significant antioxidant and anti-microbial activities. Ginger also has phenolic substance which possesses strong anti-inflammatory and anti oxidative properties “and considerable anti carcinogenic and anti-mutagenic activities.”

The same study also posited ginger’s supposed anti-microbial activity. Rahman, et al asserted that ginger has antimicrobial activity against Escherechia coli, Salmonella typhi and other bacteria in human gastro-intestinal tract, making it a good preventive method against gastrointestinal problems and has gastroprotective effect against peptic ulcer. The same study also noted ginger’s main component gingerol, as good in helping enhance the effects against nausea and vomiting.

A separate study by Mashhadi et. al and published 2013 on NCBI noted ginger’s anti-oxidative stress effects and anti-inflammatory potentials.
An experiment by Weidner and Sigwart which was cited by Mashhadi et. al alleged ginger’s positive effects in reducing blood sugar, thus helping people suffering from diabetes. The experiment’s results was that gingerol significantly lowered blood glucose, serum total cholesterol and the so-called bad cholesterol or LDL.

Yamang Bukid Healthy Products Inc. has Yamang Bukid Turmeric 10-in-1 Tea which ginger, turmeric and eight other powerful herbs that helps enhance health. Yamang Bukid’s flagship beverage is gaining popularity as a morning hot drink and substitute for coffee due to its delectably spicy taste, health and wellness benefits and affordability. You may also opt for a purely ginger experience with Yamang Bukid’s 100% Pure Powdered GINGER.

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  • The next time you see banaba grown near your backyard, thank your forebears for it. Known in English as queen crepe myrtle, or pride of India and banaba in Filipino, Lagerstroemia speciosa is a small to medium-sized tree of up to 20 meters tall and with smooth, flaky bark.

    While it is grown and present in most areas of the world, cultivation of banaba has been prevalent in South and Southeast Asia, particularly in India and the Philippines where the plant, particularly its oval-shaped leaves are harvested for traditional medicinal uses. Before it was even introduced to the West and given a scientific name by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, the plant now known as banaba has been used for centuries by Filipinos and other Asian as traditional medication for diabetes-like illness. Its scholarly and scientific studies came and were published only as recent as 1940, according to Miura and Takagi (2012).

    The two Japanese experts, in a paper published by the United States National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reported a clinic study on the effects of banaba to humans with mild type 2 diabetes. The study revealed a significant 13.5% decrease in blood sugar levels and no side effects, negative or otherwise, were reported.

    A biomedical research by South Korean doctors Cheolin Park and Jae-Sik Lee on the other hand pointed to a component in banaba leaves extract called corosolic acid that acts as an anti-hypoglycaemic (blood glucose reducer) agent. Their study, published in 2011, asserted that coroslic acid helps improve the distribution of glucose to the cells of the body, thereby regulating blood sugar. The two South Koreans also supported banaba extract’s short and long-term use against diabetes and its safety against adverse side effects.

    With the plant extract’s mechanisms and functions, banaba remains among nature’s best antidiabetic remedy for prevention and treatment without the adverse side effects shown in current prescribed drugs.

    Therefore, they said, banaba could be a promising candidate for future antidiabetic drug as an ingredient or as a main component or base.
    Aside from its antidiabetic properties, studies also show banaba as a good antioxidant. It has compounds that help regulate and increase antioxidant compounds in the body, helping cells and tissues resistant to and fight off infections and diseases.

    You can conveniently avail of banaba’s antidiabetic properties and other health and wellness benefits by just a cup of Yamang Bukid Healthy Products Inc.’s Turmeric 10-in-1 Tea. Scientifically formulated to accurately extract nature’s antidiabetic plant, Yamang Bukid Turmeric 10-in-1 Tea is also mixed with turmeric and eight other powerful herbs to give you a spicy morning beverage with nature’s dose of health and wellness.
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Yamang Bukid “hunkie envoys” set cyberspace ablaze

  • A group of young Igorot men are making raves online for their good looks and love for the environment.
    Popularly known as the “Igorot Hunks”, they are members of Tawid Cultural Performing Group and are based in Baguio City.
    Recently, the group made girls and other customers of a local fast food in Palawan’s Puerto Princesa City giddy after the boys dined there wearing their traditional undergarments and nothing else. Pictures of them eating at the fast food chain quickly spread like wildfire online, with over 1,000 shares as of this posting, eliciting nearly 97,000 engagements and reaching to a quarter of a million people. .
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    A series of photos of the boys planting tree seedlings along the bank of a stream at Yamang Bukid Farm in Puerto Princesa City’s Barangay Bacungan likewise gained hundreds of likes, comments and shares and reached nearly 100,000 people. .
    The group is being tapped by health and wellness beverage manufacturer Yamang Bukid Healthy Products Inc. as its wellness ambassador, a role that is helping them reach out even to farthest communities around the country. .
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    Despite their popularity, the boys are deeply-rooted in their culture. .
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    “We play Igorot musical instruments and perform our tribe’s dances and constantly practice so we can share our culture as flawlessly as possible,” said Vicente, a nursing graduate from one of Baguio’s top tertiary institutions. .
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DA training exec advocates setting up of more farm schools

  • PUERTO PRINCESA CITY—The head of Department of Agriculture’s training arm in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) region has encouraged farmers to help in the government’s thrust to teach more people to become farmers themselves by setting up learning sites and farm schools.

    Pat Andrew Barrientos, center director of the Agriculture Training Institute (ATI) in the region said there is a huge need of farming institutions nationwide even as the government is allocating over P700 million yearly to fund these.

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    “We are targeting around at least three farm schools or learning sites per municipality. (But) nationwide, we only have about 30 farm schools or learning sites, so it’s really inadequate,” Barrientos said during the sidelines of a regional summit of farm schools and learning sites for agriculture in Mimaropa held at Yamang Bukid Farm in Barangay Bacungan here.

    Barrientos said a huge fund that should have benefitted the farmers would be reverted to government coffers if there would be not enough farm schools established.

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    “That’s why we are encouraging our farmers to join us in our program. We will guide them, teach them. Make their children engage in agriculture and realize there is money in agriculture right now,” the ATI regional chief said.

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    “Our requirements are not that stringent so farmers can easily comply with them. Just submit a letter of intent, attend trainings given by DA-ATI and that you must own at least a hectare of property we can use as demo farm,” said Barrientos.

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    “Yamang Bukid is a private entity that trained at ATI. It saw the program about becoming a learning site and applied to become an accredited and certified one,” he said.

    In pointing out the viability of a farm becoming a farm school or learning site, Barrientos said a farmer who operates a farm school or learning site can earn up to P140,000 per batch of up to 25 student-scholars per month.

    “When you become a farm school, what’s good is that you teach people, you help the community and you also make money. It’s a win-win situation,” he added.

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    He assured the would be farm schools to not worry about where and how to get student-scholars because the government has also provided incentives to those who want to learn in these farm schools and learning sites.

    Barrientos said the government’s Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) is giving allowances to student-scholars in ATI-accredited farm schools.

    Upon completion of these courses, graduates are given national competency certifications which they can use when they seek farming jobs locally or abroad, he said.

    “We are instilling a sense of pride to our farmers who earn NC II certificates even if they do not have a college diploma,” the ATI official said.

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    Barrientos called on farmers to take advantage government programs meant to help uplift their lives.

    “All we have to do is to guide them, and the farmers should be guided accordingly. They should have the commitment, willingness, and dedication to learn and see the benefit of the program,” he added.

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