Ginger, Dry: Benefits, Uses & Dosage

If you have ever reached for a warm ginger tea at the first sign of a cold, you already know part of what makes this spice valued in Ayurveda. Dry Ginger (Shunthi, also spelled Sunthi, and called Sonth in Hindi) is the dried rhizome of ginger, and Ayurveda treats it as a remedy in its own right, distinct from the fresh root.

Its signature is heat. Dry Ginger has a pungent taste (Katu Rasa), a heating potency (Ushna Virya) and a pungent post-digestive effect (Katu Vipaka), which is the lasting effect a substance has after digestion. It is best known for kindling the digestive fire (Agni), the Ayurvedic name for your capacity to digest food and transform it into tissue.

Dry Ginger calms Vata and Kapha, the doshas (bodily principles) of movement and of structure. It may stimulate Pitta, the dosha of heat, more than fresh ginger does. That one trait shapes almost every decision about who should use it and how.

Dry Ginger's uses follow from its pungent, heating nature. Warmth and pungency counter the cold, heavy and damp qualities of Kapha and the cold, dry quality of Vata, and they stimulate a sluggish digestion.

Digestion

Dry Ginger is traditionally used to kindle the digestive fire. In the classical formula Trikatu, equal parts dry ginger, black pepper and long pepper (Pippali), it is used for burning Ama, the sticky residue of incompletely digested food, and for clearing excess Kapha.

Ayurvedic home practice also uses a dry ginger and ghee paste for diarrhea and for splenic pain. Its fit is the cold, sluggish, gassy gut rather than diarrhea with burning, blood or fever.

Colds, Flu and Cough

For colds and flu, congestion and cough, tradition recommends a tea of dry ginger with cinnamon and fennel. Colds sit in the cool, damp Kapha zone, which is exactly where a warming, drying spice is meant to help.

Sinus Headache

For sinus headache, Ayurvedic home practice describes a dry ginger powder paste applied to the forehead. People with a strong Pitta constitution should take care, as the paste can cause slight burning of the skin.

Joints

The same dry ginger and ghee paste used for digestion is also described for osteoarthritis. Degenerative joint problems are classically linked to Vata, and Dry Ginger's warming nature suits the cold, stiff joint.

Travel

For jet lag, tradition suggests a capsule of dry ginger powder taken an hour before a flight. Long-haul travel is understood in Ayurveda as a Vata-aggravating experience, and Dry Ginger calms Vata.

Weight and Cholesterol

Trikatu with honey, taken before meals, is described for burning Ama and excess Kapha and for regulating cholesterol and obesity. These are traditional uses and are not a replacement for medical management.

Dry Ginger is used mostly as a powder, either on its own, in teas, in pastes or in the Trikatu blend. The table summarises the preparations described in Ayurvedic home practice.

Making the ginger and ghee paste

Tradition describes cooking 1 tablespoon of ginger powder with 2 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) in an iron pot to form a paste. The ghee serves as the carrier (Anupana), the vehicle a remedy is taken with.

Choosing a vehicle

Honey is the traditional carrier for Trikatu. If you run warm or have a Pitta constitution, a practitioner may suggest lower amounts or a cooling vehicle such as milk, since Dry Ginger's heat can build up.

Dry Ginger is a common kitchen spice and is generally well tolerated in culinary amounts. The cautions below apply mainly to larger, therapeutic doses.

Heat and Pitta

Dry Ginger is heating and may stimulate Pitta more than fresh ginger. If you tend toward heat, acidity or inflammation, use smaller amounts. As a forehead paste it can cause slight burning of the skin in Pitta types, so wash it off after use.

Digestive conditions

Avoid high doses of Dry Ginger and Trikatu if you have active acid reflux, gastritis or a peptic ulcer, as the heat can worsen the burning. It also does not suit hot, inflammatory diarrhea with burning, blood or fever.

Blood thinners and surgery

Dry Ginger is described as having mild blood-thinning activity. If you take warfarin or daily aspirin, stay at culinary amounts unless your doctor advises otherwise, and stop high-dose use two weeks before any planned surgery.

When to see a doctor

Home remedies are not a substitute for medical care. A sinus headache that lasts beyond two weeks or comes with severe fever, facial swelling or vision changes, or joints that are hot, swollen or locked, need a doctor's evaluation.

The comparison people ask about most is dry versus fresh ginger. Ayurveda treats them as different remedies, mainly because drying changes the post-digestive effect and so the action on the doshas.

Dry Ginger is a familiar food spice, so small culinary amounts are widely used across all ages. Therapeutic doses call for more care, especially in the groups below.

Pregnancy & Nursing

Low-dose dry ginger (under 1 gram a day) for nausea in pregnancy is considered safe in Ayurvedic practice and in most modern reviews. Therapeutic dosing, for example for diarrhea, should be avoided in the first trimester without practitioner supervision, and later in pregnancy it still benefits from oversight. Our sources do not address nursing specifically, so check with your doctor.

Children

For children over five, small doses of dry ginger in warm water are described for short courses of cold-pattern diarrhea, ideally with a practitioner's guidance. For children under five, rice gruel and oral rehydration come first, and any herbal therapy should be supervised.

Elderly

Older adults often deal with the cold, stiff joints of osteoarthritis, which is one of Dry Ginger's traditional uses. Because many older people also take blood thinners or aspirin, stay at culinary amounts in that case unless a doctor advises otherwise.

Athletes

Our sources say nothing specific about athletic performance. Active people who travel for competitions may find the traditional pre-flight capsule for jet lag useful.

People with a Pitta constitution

Because Dry Ginger may stimulate Pitta, people who run hot should use smaller amounts and watch for signs of heat, such as acidity or burning.

Rasa (Taste): Pungent

Virya (Energy): Heating

Vipak (Post-digestive effect): Pungent

Dosha effect: Calms Vata and Kapha; may stimulate Pitta

Dry ginger has a different post-digestive effect than fresh ginger, which changes its action on the doshas.

• For cold, cough, congestion and flu: Make 1 cup of tea with 1 teaspoon each of dry ginger, cinnamon and fennel.
• For sinus headache: Apply 1/2 teaspoon dry ginger powder paste on the forehead. Pitta individuals should be careful as it may cause slight burning of the skin. Wash the area after treatment.
• For jet lag: Swallow 1 "00" size capsule of dry ginger powder an hour before flight.
• For burning ama and excess kapha, regulating cholesterol and obesity: Take 1/2 teaspoon of trikatu (equal parts dry ginger, black pepper and pippali) with 1 teaspoon of honey, 2 or 3 times a day before meals.
• For diarrhea, splenic pain and osteoarthritis: Cook 1 tablespoon of ginger powder with 2 tablespoons of ghee in an iron pot to make a paste. Eat 2 teaspoons at a time, 3 times a day.