Want to Ease Post-Workout Soreness? Eat More Ginger

For centuries, Eastern medicine has embraced ginger for its healing properties, and current research has revealed why it works. The root may act as an anti-inflammatory by blocking prostaglandins—hormone-like compounds that cause muscle contractions—which quell post-workout soreness, says Christopher Black, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the University of Oklahoma.

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It’s the same pathway that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin take. Having ginger before exercising may make it even more effective. The root contains the compound gingerol, which “binds to a certain nerve receptor and lessens the pain signal,” Black says. (It’s similar to capsaicin, the chemical that makes chili peppers hot and is also used as a painkiller.) Raw ginger is intense, so buy it juiced to blend into smoothies, cook the powder into curry, have the pickled kind with sushi, or try a ginger capsule. A Moscow Mule might make you feel better, too, but it has little to do with the ginger beer in the classic cocktail’s recipe.