There is something truly magical about a crisp winter morning run… but it’s much less enchanting when you find yourself coughing your guts up within a few minutes of getting started.
Many of us find that we struggle to breathe just as we’re finding a good rhythm – and that’s down to something called ‘Cold Induced Asthma’, or the even-less-sexy sounding ‘Exercise Induced Bronchoconstriction’ (which doesn’t need cold weather to kick in but shares many of the same implications).
These include unhelpful, workout-battering things like:
- coughing
- feeling short of breath
- a sensation of tightness in the chest
- wheezing
…all rather horrible, as you’ll know if you’ve ever experienced it before. In fact, it can be so unpleasant that sometimes you give up on your run completely. Then your good intentions might go out the window, you’ll feel down hearted, and you get put off running or exercise for a little while.
But never fear! As always, we’re here to help – this time, with our good pal ginger.
Yes, it turns out that ginger could help with this phenomenon – with several studies showing the benefits of using our favourite fiery root.
A study tested how the components of ginger, known as gingerols, had the ability to relax the smooth muscle in the airway – and proved that a higher dose of ginger had a bigger impact (with relaxation of the muscle peaking at 30 minutes post-consumption.
Calcium, which is responsible for muscle contraction, initiates an upregulation when out in the cold, causing the constriction of the airway. Ginger could counterbalance this by preventing the influx of calcium into the muscle – resulting in preventing the contraction.
If you struggle to enjoy running on icy cold mornings, why not give a MOJU Ginger shot a try? Knock one back 30 minutes before heading out on your run or workout and see what happens.
(You can thank us later 😉)
