Why Not Wednesday - Ninja Shots

Today, meet the miracle cure...the cure for all things from the common cold to hangovers to 2-hours-sleep-zombie-ness...

Ginger.

I've been on the Ninja Shots for about a month now, along with most of my work colleagues. I say Ninja Shots. This name kind of evolved over time. They began life as 'ginger shots' (creative genius, I know), soon became known as 'ginger ninga shots' and, eventually, became simply 'Ninja Shots'. But, as a matter of fact, 'ninja' is exactly how these beauties make you feel.

If you're a general health nut, as I am, you'll probably be pretty well acquainted with the most well-known benefits of ginger. If you're not (or if you just want a little reminder, here's a handful:

The one on the right is a Ninja Shot - on the left is Wheatgrass (more on that in a later post, coming soon....)

1) Iffy digestion? IBS/stomach ache/indigestion/flatulence whatever the digestive problem, you name it, ginger will swat it.

2) Car sick? Sea sick? Airoplane-sick? Just saw someone you hate and now feel sick? Sick for no apparent reason? Ginger is a fail-safe way to squash nausea of any kind.

3) Hungover? Just have ginger. You'll see.

4) Cold? Sore throat? Blocked nose? Hit the ginger my friend.

Thing is, I dunno about you guys, but I'm always hearing about "natural miracle cures" for this, that and the other. And, most of the time, they don't make much of a noticeable difference.

I am happy to announce that ginger, on the other hand, does not disappoint. 

Before I started my Ninja Shots, I was the type of person to get run down pretty easily, and pretty dramatically - i.e. going at life helter-skelter for a while before reaching a dramatic immune system crash and burn. Post-Ninja-Shots, not a peek of illness. And this is during flu season: one by one I have watched my friends surrender to flu, colds, sore throats, headaches...whilst I myself have remained in tip-top condition. 

And here's the really cool thing.

Sure, once or twice I've felt the bugs coming on - you know that nasty tingly feeling you get in your throat, when you know you're gonna wake up the next morning with a raging sore throat, headache and the whole malarkey. So, in sheer panic, I rushed to my ginger hoard and began knocking the stuff back, about four or five shots a day. The sore throats never came. They faded away before they'd even kicked in. RESULT!

Unknown benefit No.5: forget coffee, ginger's your new wake up call. I haven't touched coffee for a month now, because I simply haven't felt the need. Ginger gets your digestive system going, your blood circulating, and your brain ticking INSTANTLY, and all without the post-caffeine crash you get from coffee. One shot on waking up and I'm buzzing all morning (and I tell you this as a former 3-coffee-a-day kind of girl).

So how to take your ginger? Some people like to nibble on raw root ginger. Some people like it powdered in their tea, or mixed into other drinks like juices.

After trying all different forms of ginger, however, I've found that the best way to do it, whilst feeling all the benefits instantly, is to juice it fresh. This is easily done, with the simplest juicer (see the above photo for a 'here's one I made earlier' type thing):

1) Juice a chunk of ginger - not too much, just enough to fill a shot glass. There's no need to peel it before hand as your juicer will eliminate the peel for you.

2) Make sure you have a strawberry on standby as a chaser (trust me, you'll need this - tequila eat your heart out, ginger is strong stuff!) 

3) Finally, just drink it as you would a tequila shot - knock it back and feel the buzz!

Voila: Ninja Shots :)

Seriously guys, give it a go - even the most sceptical skeptic won't turn back once they've started! So here's to Why Not Wednesday No. 1: Why not have a ginger shot?