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This One-Ingredient Tea Knocks Out Inflammation & Pain Better Than Drugs!

Come on into my medicine cabinet and see what’s in there! I think you might be surprised. Also, in this new Food Babe TV episode, I show you how to make a simple one-ingredient tea that can knock out inflammation & pain better than drugs!

Watch: One-Ingredient Tea To Knock Out Inflammation & Pain:

As you can see from the video – Ginger is one very special ingredient that I eat almost every single day. Not only does it have a sweet and spicy taste that I love, but it’s great for the body. The typical American diet is loaded with sugar, salt, and additives that leave your body chronically inflamed. This chronic inflammation can really kill (pun intended) your efforts to lose weight and is linked to most major diseases like heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. You can make some dietary changes to really lower this inflammation, and eating ginger is one powerful way to do it. It’s a true superfood!

I often add fresh ginger to my fresh pressed juices and in my cooking at home. In the Food Babe TV episode above, I show you one of the simplest ways to add ginger to your diet. It’s so crazy easy, you’ll be wondering why you haven’t tried it earlier! 

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Reasons to add anti-inflammatory ginger root to your diet ASAP:

  • Fights cancer – New research indicates that ginger may be effective at treating breast cancer and that it can kill cancer cells
  • Prevents viruses – Ginger is anti-viral and can help keep you from getting sick. 
  • Helps digestion & reduces bloating – I love to drink ginger tea after meals because it contains compounds that aid digestion, which keeps away bloating. 
  • Soothes an upset stomach & prevents motion sickness – Several studies have found that ginger is effective at relieving nausea and vomiting. That’s why your mom probably gave you ginger ale when you had an upset stomach as a child – it’s a tried and true remedy.

Here are some of my favorite meals and treats made with ginger: 

Did you like the thermos I used in the video?

I like to fill my thermos with about 2-3 inches of sliced raw ginger before packing it in my carry-on bag. After you go through security, fill it up with hot water from a restaurant and you’ve got hot ginger tea for your flight! Ginger tea improves circulation, reduces inflammation, and is antibacterial – everything you need on a flight. I’ve been using the Think Sport insulated bottles – which come in two sizes for my tea. They are available here with 10% off affiliate check out code: FOODBABE10 if you’d like to get one! 

Do you know someone who needs some anti-inflammation and pain relief in their life? Please share this post and video!

Xo,

Vani 

P.S. Please don’t forget to subscribe to the Food Babe TV You Tube Channel here – Many more fun videos like this are coming soon! Would love to know what you think in the comments. 

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81 responses to “This One-Ingredient Tea Knocks Out Inflammation & Pain Better Than Drugs!

    1. Ginger has always been part of one of the healthiest pro-biotic foods we eat.(besides Sauerkraut)
      KIMCHI.. kimchee, my Koren friend’s taught me about Kimchee… Good ginger has quite a bite.
      Kimchee Ingredients: Napa Cabbage, Sea salt, Ginger, Green onion, Garlic, and whatever extra you want.
      Homemade kimchee is a delicoious healty food!

    2. Ginger has always been part of one of the healthiest pro-biotic foods we eat.(besides Sauerkraut)
      KIMCHI.. kimchee, my Koren friend’s taught me about Kimchee… Good ginger has quite a bite.
      Kimchee Ingredients: Napa Cabbage, Sea salt, Ginger, Green onion, Garlic, and whatever extra you want.
      Homemade kimchee is a delicoious healty food!

      Yum!! Yum!!
      Easy to make.

  1. Foodbabe, like you literally are the best person alive! Ginger in the thermos- it’s so simple and so easy but I would have never thought of that.

    I have a question though, for indian cooking, I’m indian too and I usually add the ginger in the first half of the cooking process with the meat, should I be adding it towards the end instead?

    And I boil my ginger tea, is that actuallly bad to do then?

    Thank you so much for being such an amazing role model for moms like me!

    1. Boiling will actually cause water atoms to split apart. If you’ve ever seen steam, that’s what steam is! This is very dangerous and can increase your risk of cancer. Just think: if it can burn your skin, what is it doing to the inside of your body? It is NOT SAFE to heat water above a light simmer.

      This may make it hard to enjoy pastas, but you don’t need to be eating those processed grains anyway, since they’re packed with nasty gluten.

      1. not if you make your own pasta from organic flour and range free eggs, and pink Himalayan sea salt then pasta is good to eat

      2. I don’t trust sea salt. The oceans are full of BPA-filled plastic and pollution. I once bought a bag of sea salt flakes, and there was a little black fleck in there. I didn’t know what it was so I threw the whole bag out. I only use 100% organic mineral salt.

      3. You need to visit this sight and find out the correct information on the properities of water – water contains many pathogens ,drug markers ect . Where did you get your info on boiling water ? I have a feeling its all wet . https://johnellis.com/

      4. So Tom, according to your logic one should never drink any frozen beverages either because it will freeze your molecules together …honestly, that makes no sense.
        Unless you have any links to any studies?

      5. Tom,
        First of all, water is a molecule, made up of atoms. And boiling it doesn’t separate the atoms, it simply allows water molecules to move fast enough to move away from each other, hence the difference between solids, liquids and gases. Water is still water, even when it’s steam. Seriously, read a basic chemistry book. Because then you’d also realize that there is no such thing as “organic” sea salt because salt is a mineral. Minerals are non-organic by definition.

    1. Great question? I would like to hear her opinion. I use essential oils, and was earlier preparing an order for a ginger e.o. for next month!

  2. I can’t seem to find organic ginger in my town. Would non organic ginger be okay too just as long as I make sure to peel it?

    1. I would not use non-organic anything….Honestly you would be defeating the whole purpose of your food as medicine.

      You can purchase pretty much anything online two places to try – Thrivemarket.com or Amazon.com in the grocery/gourmet food
      both sites have organic everything.
      Good Luck, I hope that this info is helpful in answering your question.

    1. No, but I should make one! My husband made some a few years ago, I’ll ask him how he did it. Great idea. I love pickled ginger.

      1. May I recommend a solution for you? Betsy Hicks wrote an amazing book for parents titled “Picky Eating Solutions”. She and her husband Dr. Hicks are forerunners in the areas of healthy eating choices and recipes for children who have a variety of disabilities. These recipes do not contain any artificial ingredients (because of the sensitive nature of disabilities, such as autism). Such amazing and healthy recipes include Kim Chee, natural fruit sodas, and many vegetable recipes that children will LOVE. Check it out. I’m a licensed mental health therapist, and one of the first areas I talk to parents about when they visit me is the children’s diet. I do point them to The Food Babe website and to “Picky Eating Solutions” and the hicks website as well.

        By the way, you can order almost any organic root, vegetable etc, and grow it yourself! Ginger is very easy to sustain and grow, even in a kitchen garden window!

        Thank you for all the time you take to keep us informed, Vani.

        Respectfully,

        Jesse

  3. How can you really prove that a certain type of pill causes stomach cancer? There are so many other factors that can contribute to the development of cancer. That being said, trying to conduct that study would likely be unethical. Not saying that these pills don’t have harmful ingredients, but how can you really prove it?

    1. Look at the side effect’s of any medicine that is created in a lab.
      The whole point of Food as Medicine is to take a food product (organic spice, organic vegetable, organic fruit, open range meat, open range poultry & eggs, raw milk
      I do hope that this help’s explain the reference to a medicine causing CANCER.

      1. who cares about the studies common sense dictates that all med for a chronic condition attack and assault the body believe in the wisdom of the body it is self healing and self regulating

  4. Thanks Food Babe for another great video! You always inspire me to keep taking my health regime to new levels. I’m never without fresh ginger and yet I’ve never made a cup of fresh ginger tea. I will today!

      1. I tried your ginger ale recipe last evening. Excellent.
        Question. WOULD LOVE to hear your recommendations for real honey. I watched Dr. Oz this afternoon….am amazed that all honey isn’t real at all. I buy Jacob and Erin Ritter honey at Whole Foods. Thank you, Vernona

  5. Hi Food Babe: Sorry If I missed it earlier but what is a basic ginger tea recipe that i can use daily? I think that might be the easiest/best way for me to get the ginger in my diet more regularly vs smoothies and/or food – although I will incorporate it that way too from time to time, I just don’t want to eat ginger flavored food daily. Thanks and love your articles! Very educating!

    1. Ooops – I just saw that your image was a video. Apologies and thank’s. You should consider publishing the recipe written as well :). I assume you just leave the chopped ginger in the water the entire time while sipping?

    2. Boil ginger in bulk – even whole. For a long time – a day if you are using whole root. Pour that in ice cube trays. Use for tea, and to add to soup, stew, beans, etc.

  6. Thank you Vani, I’m 8 months pregnant and recent began to use 100% ginger tea, so strong but has helped me so much with digestion. After reading this is will continue after the baby comes.
    Thank you thank you

      1. Thank you, it’s been amazing. Baby will be raised eating clean and healthy. Super excited for all the work you do.

  7. Vani,

    Very nice tip on the ginger root but, I have a general question about taking items (like your stainless thermos) on board a commercial aircraft.

    You said “and after you pass security” which I interpret as TSA… (the Gendarmes of the sky) that you can enjoy the tea.

    Do you ever come across TSA personnel that will not allow you to take that type of thermos?. I find them to vary quite a bit from location to location whereas, some don’t care all the way to the “you can’t take that aboard” types…lol.

    Thank you,

    Dave.

  8. Love the Elephant you pour the hot water out of! Where can I find it? Would love to add to my collection

  9. I often use ginger to make tea with some raw honey. I would suggest turmeric + lemon juice + black pepper and some raw honey in hot preferable lıke-warm water to boost the immune system against many ilnesses such as the flue, cold, sore throat, and so on. Turmeric is one thousand time stronger than even the best antibiotics.

  10. SIMPLE. Buy ginger in bulk. Boil it on very low heat for at least a day. Pour off liquid, and put it in ice cube trays. Whenever you make anything with liquid, drop in one or more of those ice cubes. Or put the cube in hot water, and it’s instant ginger tea. You can continue simmering a second or even a third batch of ginger water if you are using whole ginger as I do. I don’t have time to fiddle with food, but I eat good stuff. I save time when cooking.

  11. Foodbabe, could you possibly fix things so I could email your video to my daughter? How about the text?

  12. approx. How many times a day could I drink ginger tea? I was just told (suggested) by a doctor to take ibuprofen 3x / day for 2 weeks to help with a specific inflammation. I do NOT want to do that. Could I drink ginger tea 3x / day instead??
    Thanks for all the great information!!!

    1. Hi, I’m not Food Babe, but I took ginger tea three times a day to help with serious swelling from a bone fracture. It worked after a few days.

  13. I would love to eat ginger all the time except for the fact it tastes horrible to me. Pickled ginger tastes like soap and raw ginger is bitter to me with no sweet taste that you speak of. I feel ripped off. I love ginger snaps but that’s not a good source. Is there some way I can start incorporating it so I can get used to it, hopefully start liking it? Thank you and thank you for all your efforts and sharing it with us.

    1. Look for crystalized ginger cubes. They are really tiny pieces dusted in sugar. I eat them 3 times a day. Very yummy if the spiciness is a bit much for you.

  14. Not one mention of GINGER JUICE! Simply put a pound of organic ginger root through your juicer. You’ll net about a cup of juice. Store in refrigerator in glass. To use, add approximately* 1 teaspoon to a cup of liquid such as tea or a smoothie.
    *The roots can vary in potency up to 4x so start small (½ teaspoon per cup) and if desired go up to 2 teaspoons per cup).
    The juice will separate into 2-3 layers when standing. The strongest ginger has the thickest gummy layer on the bottom. Shake well before using to homogenize.

    1. I will since I’ve ben buying ginger juice from Ginger People for past year. I use it in most smoothies, about 1/2 teaspoon. Very convenient.

  15. Perfect store. Two questions, nationwide who comes close to the perfect food store? Then, what would be the perfect store? I loved Mom n Pop stores of yester decade, Though what % has a perfect garden or your own back yard store? Talk about true organic. What with out of control ingredient experimenting on the public, packaging deception and slight of hand retail pricing manipulation really, who is on the consumers side besides Food Babe? why is the consumer the guinea pig?

  16. I would like to see if ginger tea will prevent me from taking migraine medicine that over the years has been doing something to my memory. I have not seen organic ginger at Kroger and dont have a whole foods within 40 miles of me. Where could I try to find it? Also, have you ever grown your own and how? I am in north GA.

    1. Do you have regular ginger at any store? You could peel it to reduce the risk of pesticide. Or you could see if your local store would stock organic ginger on request. Also, Traditional Medicinals has an organic ginger tea. It’s found at many stores. I think Rite Aid is one.

  17. I have spent about 2 hours on line trying to find organic ginger root. I live in a small town in Oregon and have NO access to a Whole Foods etc. I have given up trying to find this where it can tell you where it is grown. If in China we KNOW they use human fertilizer and who knows about India or Thailand or anywhere else. The USA farms that have web sites are all sold out because it is the wrong time of year. Talk about FRUSTRATED. Places like Thrive Foods charge a membership fee that I can’t afford.

    It is hard enough to try to buy organic on a budget but see “organic” and then find out it is actually grown in China. Anyone found it??

    1. Hi Janice – Call New Seasons Market in the Portland area (there are several of them). They are an amazing store and I would bet they would let you buy some and ship to you. Hope this helps!

    2. When you do find some, save a knob and stick it into dome soil. I grow that and turmeric that way. It’s easy and you never run out.

  18. Thank you for this amazing and inspiring video! I think a lot of people are intimidated by fresh ginger root. You clarified everything for us! XOXO Jana lee

  19. For those people who don’t eat soy anymore, chickpea miso is a good substitute. MISO MASTER makes a gluten free, soy free organic chickpea miso that’s delicious. You can find it in the refrigerated section.

  20. Vani,
    Love your video, love you and I, I LOVE GINGER !! There is a crazy old song called ‘I Love Onions’.
    Well, I change that tune to “I, I Love Ginger”. Ginger is awesome. Thanks for the easy way of making a quick cup of ginger tea.
    I just made a pitcher of it by simmering a pot of water with some ginger root in it. I am sure you do it that way too. You have been teaching me a bunch of stuff girl.
    If ginger is too strong of a taste for some I suggest they add some lemon juice to it and I also add stevia to it. A juiced orange and putting orange slices give it a nice flavor. And as I like my teas nice and cold I chill it in the fridge overnight.
    Strong spices and I do not agree so I started slow on the ginger as it can have a bite. Now I love the bite. It is nothing like spicy hot sauce. It is awesome and you are awesome.
    You go girl !
    Blessings to you

  21. Vani,
    I just gotta say I love your name “Food Babe” it is quite unique. And I love that you are reaching young people like yourself to be healthy, eat healthy and help the world be healthy.
    I am old enough to be your mother and I want to grow up to be just like you. Do not listen to the naysayers. Keep on keeping on and on. Stay strong and confident. You are like a voice in the wilderness of junk food and junk health.
    After 58 years I am taking back my life ! Sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am going to live to over 100 and be healthy, independent and help many people. My generation needs to be reached too.
    Your kitchen is SO spotless, I better go work on mine, lol.
    Blessing to you for all you do and I also pray protection for the big bad food companies who do not like what you are doing.

  22. Hi! I am so excited I read your book! My eating habits have completely changed. My kitchen looks much better and my health is great!! Thank you! I wanted to also let you know that you should check out essential oils.. Doterra essential oils. I have become an advocate and love these oils. They are natural plants. Beyond organic. Use them for anything for your health. Thank you again!

  23. Growing your own ginger is pretty easy. Just plant ginger roots (corms) in some sandy soil or good potting mix in a pot and keep it moist but not too moist and give it some light. After the leaves die down it is ready to eat.

  24. Hello,My Question is not about Ginger but I really Need your help in finding out where or how to access organic LOW FODMAP for IBS and the best foods that you recommend for ACID REFLUX …I need help….Thank you!

  25. Hi there, I drink this simple/beneficial tea almost every night now 🙂 Thanks! My question is can the same be done with organic Tumeric root? Just prepare it exactly the same way? Turmeric was mentioned earlier adding lemon and black pepper. I just want to make sure you just slice 2″ of turmeric and place in hot water the same as the ginger tea? Thanks for helping us lead a healthier life 🙂

  26. My close friend has chronic pain and so I was wondering would ginger help him with his pain. Thanks so much for sharing this! 🙂

  27. If you’re getting headaches, you need to ask yourself why. I’ve never had a headache in my entire life. In fact, I had to ask a friend what a headache feels like. I can’t see any reason to get a headache unless you are doing something wrong or your diet is c-r-a-p.

  28. Hi Vani, Sad for me I just do not like the taste of ginger. Are there any supplements that could have the same benefits? Thank you!

  29. Food Babe,

    Just saw this on FB. Problem is, I really dislike ginger. And no, I just can’t choke it down like some other things I don’t care for. So what to do? I would love an alternative way to tone down my headaches. Excedrin gives me severe GERD and tummy aches besides, due to the aspirin. And I don’t want to ingest any caffeine either. But Tylenol doesn’t work at all, nor does Advil. Please, other suggestions?

    Lisa

  30. I tryed ginger root it gave me such a bad headache that i thought i was going to die. I have information in my head i only took a silver of that root and boiled it in water and drank it oh boy did it go bad for me it not for everyone.

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