What is Thai Ginger?
Similar in appearance and taste to common ginger, Thai ginger, commonly called galangal, is a popular herb for cooking and medicine in India, Southeast Asia, and Asia. However, a more accurate question than “What is Thai ginger?” is “What is Alpinia galanga?”. Alpinia galanga is the scientific name for Thai ginger. It is important to differentiate because three other rhizome plants in the same family go by galangal or Thai ginger and other similar names. In this article, we’ll refer to Alpinia galanga by its scientific name, as well as Thai ginger interchangeably.
Alpinia galanga, or greater galangal, roots are prized for their culinary and medicinal uses. This variety of Thai ginger offers the most potent health benefits. Thai ginger roots are larger and firmer than regular ginger roots. It can easily be grown in the southern US, or can often be found at the supermarket. Or, if you live close to an Asian market, they’ll almost certainly have it in stock. You can also buy Alpinia Galanga as a health supplement ingredient in a capsule or tablet form.
Where does Thai Ginger come from?
Thai ginger, or Alpinia galanga, is native to India, Southeast Asia, and China. Thai ginger is a perennial herb with reed-like shoots and large, tuberous roots. Alpinia galanga can grow up to six feet tall and its reed-like leaves are blade-shaped. The roots of this plant are what is used for culinary purposes, they have also been used for ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Alpinia galanga is rich in antioxidants, and may help support a healthy response to inflammation. It also may promote a normal immune response, and enhances the body’s natural defenses against pathogens.
Where to get Alpinia Galanga extract
For natural supplement manufacturers, where you source your ingredients is of utmost concern. Choosing quality ingredients is key to creating a product that will help people time and time again. When you use premium, scientifically validated ingredients, you’re giving your customers a product that makes an impact on their health.. The trust you’ve built in your brand is a priceless resource, and one we want to help protect and build.
Here at OmniActive, we source top-quality nutritional health supplement ingredients. Thai ginger is directly sourced from farmers using sustainable agricultural practices. Our Thai ginger extract, enXtra is award-winning and backed by clinical studies showing its effectiveness as a caffeine alternative for mental energy. Consumers are feeling more exhausted than ever before. Lower energy levels over the last ten years are being reported by more than half of consumers. About one third of these consumers are reaching for nutritional supplements to combat their fatigue. If you’d like to sample our product, enXtra, click here.
What is Thai Ginger Good for?
In addition to its culinary uses, Thai ginger, or galangal, has many health benefits. It has also been studied extensively by researchers from all across the world. We’ll talk about what these researchers have learned, as well as learn a little more about Alpinia galanga and mental energy. But, Alpinia galanga is about so much more than mental energy, which is what makes it such a versatile product for supplement manufacturers. What are other Thai ginger benefits for health? Let’s explore what they are in this section.
A clinical study compared the effects of enXtra (Alpinia galanga) against other ingredients for mental energy. Healthy caffeine-habituated volunteers supplemented with either enXtra, caffeine, placebo, Cymbopogon flexuosus oil or Glycyrrhiza glabra. The results demonstrated that only 300 mg of enXtra showed a consistent and statistically significant increase in alertness score at 1, 3 and 5 hours versus baseline.
A clinical study comparing supplementation of subjects with either placebo, caffeine, enXtra or a combination of enXtra and caffeine demonstrated that enXtra significantly increased mental alertness at 1, 3 and 5 hours from baseline. Caffeine (with and without enXtra) significantly increased mental alertness at 1 hour, but decreased after 3hrs.
Tap into the Alternative Energy Market with enXtra
The market is saturated with standard caffeine products, but enXtra provides the clinically demonstrated health benefits from a natural, non-caffeine source to differentiate and stand out on the shelf. With enXtra, our high-quality Thai ginger extract, your company can formulate products that will meet the needs of a billion-dollar market. Consumers want supplements to support mental energy without the crash or side effects associated with caffeine. And like caffeine, this new generation of energy supplements must work fast. enXtra has similar benefits of caffeine to support the “always-on” behavior of the active lifestyle consumer!