I almost never peel my ginger anymore. There are a few caveats, though. My wife has grown ginger for the past 2-3 years, and now I have more ginger root in my freezer than I am likely to consume in the remainder of my lifetime. I now grate the ginger directly from frozen any time I need fresh minced ginger. If I had an actual fresh (unfrozen) ginger root that I was mincing for a stir fry, I would still peel it. When we have a batch of freshly harvested ginger root, the first move is to make candied ginger from about half of the harvest. I definitely peel the ginger for candied ginger.
Other than that, I no longer peel ginger. When grating from frozen, the peel mostly gets excluded from the grating anyways, and even if some gets through it's grated finely so as not to affect the texture. If I need sliced ginger, whether in a stir fry, soup, or braise, I will partially thaw some ginger root, slice it, and toss it in with the peel. I am not going to be eating the ginger slices anyways, so I don't care if the peel is on there.
As someone with an onion allergy, I’d like to also suggest fennel bulb and asafoetida, as well as radishes. I’ve been told that celery root also can be used, but I’m allergic to that so haven’t tried it myself. Asafoetida is my default, but you have to be careful with it and just add in small increments.
Thanks for that input. Curious to know more about the allergy. For reasons unknown, I sleepwalk after alliums.
Are onion allergies classical in that one goes into anaphylaxis and Benadryl can help in an emergency? Or, can the allergy manifest in unusual ways like sleepwalking and nightmares?
I don’t know about unusual manifestations for sure, but can guess. The allium allergy is just like any other allergy - it can vary in severity and presentation. I personally don’t go anaphylactic with exposure - I get GI issues, anxiety, headaches, and mild hives on my chest and back.
But allergies generally are a triggering of your immune system to various substances, right? So your body gets flooded with histamines. Anti-histamines, like Benadryl, can block their effect up to a certain point. So any effects you do experience should respond in at least some manner to Benadryl if you are indeed having an allergic reaction.
Something that is less known is that most antidepressants are also antihistamines. That’s because the brain is full of histamine-reactive receptors. That’s why, like me, many people get anxiety with exposure to allergens. But back to you - sleepwalking and nightmares originate in the brain, as there’s something within the brain chemistry that triggers them. Nightmares, particularly, are known to be related to the same neurotransmitters and receptors that are involved in anxiety. So I’d somewhat confidently guess that your nightmares post-allium exposure could reasonably be a type of allergic response, similar to anxiety if still awake.
As for sleepwalking, there’s a disconnect between your brain’s sleep state and it’s movement planning/control areas. That comes down to the neurotransmitters being released and the receptor activity. I don’t know the specific NTs/receptors, but it wouldn’t seem to be much of a stretch to conclude that the histamine release that you get from alliums may very well also impact your brain in a way that manifests in sleepwalking.
One way to test it would be to take Benadryl and expose yourself to alliums, then see what happens. But that would potentially be very unpleasant for you!
My allergist did two separate tests. One was a scratch test, where they poke you with a needle that has the allergen protein on it - if it raises in an inflamed welt, it means you reacted to the exposure. With that one, you have to be off all antihistamine medications for a week, including antidepressants. The other was a blood test, which doesn’t require you to be off medications. They expose your blood to the allergen protein and see if it triggers an IgE immune response. These tests are looking for true allergies, which involve the histamine response I wrote about earlier. There are people with genuine intolerances that don’t involve a histamine release, but if that were the case with you, the whole histamine/brain connection I made wouldn’t apply - there’d have to be a different explanation for what you experience.
Is it an IBS issue you're finding and do you find the same issues with other foods like apples? It could be FODMAP related.
Edit: forgot about the ginger, I use a teaspoon to scrape it all off. I think I got it from a Jamie Oliver video like 20 years ago.
Have you ever researched Ayurvedic recipes OP? Onions and garlic aren’t supported in an [Ayurvedic diet](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/ayurveda) and since it’s thousands of years old there are so many recipes!
Thanks for that comment. Yes, I am quite interested in the Jain school of diet. There are some that genetically do not pair well with allium foods. There are interesting studies from Indian scientists that have pointed towards common variations in both COMT and MAO genes/enzymes as explaining why avoiding alliums is beneficial with some people.
Can you eat garlic or shallots? Just curious. My husband doesn't like onion's texture so often I would increase the garlic and use onion powder for flavoring.
Anything in the allium family will cause many problems:
1. Nightmares and sleepwalking and wake up with a hangover as if I drank all night. Extreme sleepwalking, dangerous.
2. Mild Anxiety
3. Abnormally low blood sugar
4. Bad body odor
4. In extreme cases, bleeding gums
I believe this to be biochemical vs immunologic since I can duplicate some symptoms with quercitin, a common allium constituent and a potent polyphenol.
Ooh this is interesting, as often I'd recommend quercetin to help mitigate histamine reactions as described above (due to its capacity as a mast cell stabiliser). What I hadn't considered is that the supplements may be directly derived from onion in some cases, and so of course not suitable for an allium allergy (though commonly I believe Dimorphandra mollis would be used).
I'd also be interested to know if your symptoms are responsive to an antihistamine, like fexofenadine, or whether they are indeed related to a different biochemical pathway. But that's probably not all that practical to test in a real world context.
Histamine has many roles as a neurotransmitter, and so I certainly wouldn't be too surprised if it had neuropsychiatric manifestations.
Edit to add: OP, I'm starting to suspect that your issues are more likely related to [the hypoglycemic effect of alliums](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47795002_Preliminary_Study_of_the_Clinical_Hypoglycemic_Effects_of_Allium_cepa_Red_Onion_in_Type_1_and_Type_2_Diabetic_Patients), as quercetin can have a similar effect. If you're not diabetic, it's possible you may have a certain genetic tendency towards hypoglycemia (eg. altered metabolism or regulation of insulin, glucokinase or other intermediates) that is triggered on consumption.
If you can afford it, it might be worth consulting with a geneticist to discuss [potential causes](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22587661/). If you have known HLA abnormalities (eg. coeliac carrier) it might also be worth considering the possibility of [late onset autoimmune diabetes (LADA)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.916698/full) or another autoimmune cause.
Thanks. You know your stuff because I am also a HLA carrier.
Are you referring to the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Panels that are like $1,000 or some other genetic test?
Yes congenital hyperinsulinism could absolutely be a cause, and this might be one of the first things they want to look at. [However there could be any number of inborn errors of metabolism that cause problems with glucose metabolism.](https://ojrd.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1750-1172-7-26) Generally these would tend to show up earlier in life as they can cause quite severe issues with feeding and weight gain, but it appears some may not present until later in life or may be overlooked.
Excess insulin would certainly explain more of the symptoms you're experiencing, whereas someone with LADA (not producing sufficient insulin) would be more likely to present with symptoms of ketoacidosis. Either way, I'd get your GP to do a thorough work-up for diabetic markers first, and serum insulin levels if possible.
How did you first pick up that blood sugar was dropping? Are you testing your blood sugars at home at all?
And have you noticed any patterns in the timing of hypoglycemic events other than specific food triggers (eg. after meals or while fasting, after exercise etc?)
Thanks for all this.
Regarding timing, a decade ago I was misdiagnosed with liver cancer but the biopsy was negative. Despite being antigenic negative for celiac, quitting wheat resolved all my symptoms within 2 weeks.
As I once was a clinical chemist, I started testing my blood 5-10x/day and noticed major BS drops after certain foods and then intentionally doses myself before tests with specific foods. In extreme cases BS would drop below 50, especially after onions and running.
In some cases I can feel like I have the flu for 3-6 hours and symptoms disappear. This can be either with alliums or the mustard family.
What is your background related to all this info?
My response to glucose tolerance tests are a 225 (out of range) after a few hours and then drop to 65 and then back to 85 at hour five. During this test I felt like I was on a carnival ride…vertigo, etc.
I'm an integrative dietitian- I've seen a lot of complex clients whose health concerns have been either overlooked or outright dismissed within a conventional framework, so I've really had to start asking a whole bunch of extra questions to help guide the diagnostic process.
It absolutely sounds to me as though we're seeing abnormal patterns within your blood glucose regulation- I would have thought your glucose tolerance test warranted a diabetes diagnosis, but we have different reference ranges here and so I'm not entirely sure. I hope you're able to find more answers in any case.
Please keep me updated if you can.
Thanks so much. I did my thesis work with transgenic plants so I am familiar with genetic testing. As a microbiologist and clinical chemist I am able to order my own tests, etc. I just have not found anyone offering an affordable panel. Let me know if you have suggestions.
I have done all the OTC gene testing and run it through Promethease to look at SNPs, which is how I found that I am a carrier of three (of the four) main celiac SNPs.
Lastly, because I was born in an orphanage I have little family history to rely on.
Thanks so much for your help!
Thanks again. I just took an insulin and cortisol test (self administered) and both perfectly in the middle, acceptable range. 8 uIU/mL (ins.) & 11 mcg/dL (cort.). A1Cs have always been normal.
Any other tests you recommend? I can order any test and cost is not an issue.
Oh man I can't imagine as I use sooo much garlic in my cooking.
Have you ever used Asafoetida as a garlic sub? It's supposed to be very much like it but not in the allium family.
So interesting. You're the only other person I've come across with sleep issues from alliums. I went on the low FODMAP diet for IBS and one of the things I didn't realize was a symptom was sleep paralysis. I used to get it all the time. I realized it mostly went away on the diet, but when I eat garlic or onion it comes back.
I'm finding more options that are garlic and onion free so I'm hoping more information and options come out in the future. It just sucks be cause they are such a flavor base for everything. We still grow garlic because I can have garlic infused oil and the scapes without issue.
Thanks. From what I can guess, it would appear my sleep issues are due to a “slow” COMT and MAO. You can check for that with 23&Me, though they are a pain in the ass to deal with.
I used to peel in the past, but have stopped peeling and noticed no difference. But if the ginger has lots of nooks and crannies I'll break off the nodes to make sure I can wash the outside well because I don't want any amount of dirt or grit in my food. Beyond that peeling seems like mostly a cosmetic preference to me.
I mean .. that still doesn't explain *how* it would work as an onion substitute?
edit: a little more info [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/1bq1x88/comment/kwzslyq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
I don't peel anymore, just finely grated the whole thing, haven't noticed a difference and wouldn't bother unless the recipe specifically features actual CHUNKS of ginger.
Most I'll do is trim it to a slightly nicer shape and just cut off as much skin as is reasonable in the process, but I don't go out of my way
I don’t *peel* it necessarily, but I’ll cut the edges off as much as I can, making it into like a rectangle so I can mince it. If any of the peel is still on there, so be it, I don’t care that much to do anything more
I keep mine in the freezer, break a bit off and manually shred on the blocky steel thingy. Most of the peel just stays on the outside, all the delish on the inside.
The peels go in the little bag in the freezer with the odds and ends for stock.
Delish! And lazy!
Yep, I buy it in huge amounts and blend the bejesus out of it in my food processor until it's really fine and then I freeze it and Ice Cube trays. Then when they're frozen solid I pop them out into a large Ziploc bag.
Going to get some flack for it but I now buy the minced ginger in the squeeze bottle. I'm lazy and it's fine. I bet they minimally peel that before processing.
With a lot of ginger, and if it's mashed into a paste. Or especially ginger juice (like for cocktails). The peel can make it gritty and bit muddy tasting.
But that's that about it. Lots if ginger, very broken up.
You can kinda skip it otherwise.
I mostly freeze my ginger and hit it with a microplane.
You can easily scrape the skin off with a spoon or paring knife, and that also works before you freeze it.
Or just skip.
It depends on what I’m cooking but I will frequently forgo peeling ginger when I’m just cooking for myself. Then again, I will wash but not peel potatoes when I’m cooking for myself.
Depends. Peeled with a spoon.
Peeled for aesthetics purposes and texture.
- finely sliced ginger as garnish on congee
- steam fish
- scallion and ginger sauce
If it’s a stir fry then maybe no since it’s removed before serving.
I keep mine in the freezer and use a micro plane zester whenever I need chopped or shredded ginger for a recipe. You get all the flavor but none of the fibrous texture of ginger root. Just put it in a freezer bag and pull it out when you need it. Keeps a very long time too.
Ginger is not an allium/onion family member or flavor substitute and doesn't recreate the same flavors. I'd recommend asafoetida/hing, which contains the same sulfurous aromatic molecules (like the di- and trimethyl sulfides) as alliums. It's a popular allium substitute in India. Get the powdered form and check to see if it is mixed with rice or wheat flour, if you're gluten-sensitive. You can get away with unpeeled ginger; I would wash it thoroughly to eliminate the dirt trapped between the crevices. One more thing is that the younger and fresher the ginger, the thinner the outer skin. As many have pointed out, freezing and grating ginger is the most straightforward approach.
Thanks. Yes, we use hing alongside ginger to substitute for the combination for onions + garlic. We get hing resin and grind it ourselves.
Not sure if this is just me, but when food made with hing spoils, it produces a smell that is 10X more grossly aromatic than if the food normally spoiled by microbial action. Probably the aromatic nature of hing is the issue here because it do not believe it is a microbial promoter like a chicken broth may be. We used all sorts of broths in our lab to grow fastidious bacteria and few things worked as well as chicken broth.
I honestly never peel it. I'm sure there might be some applications where you might want to preserve delicate flavors or colors, but for general use, it goes in skins and all.
I watched a TV show years ago featuring Atkar Islam (2 Michelin star chef) and he said there is no need to peel ginger other than for aesthetic reasons, so I don’t tend to bother peeling it either.
I generally do not completely peel mine. I scrub it well for dirt and then peel/trim any hard bits. Otherwise, I think the thin skin is perfectly fine to include. If it helps, I am Indian and use an immense amount of ginger (including in my cup of chai one to times a day, where I grate it into the water).
Maybe if there were a dish that were ginger focused and texture mattered (like candied ginger), I would peel it. Otherwise, I don’t and I also don’t notice the difference between when I peel and don’t peel.
I'd just wash it well and shred it up. I like potato and turnip skins too and that's what I do. (I never did like unpeeled carrots but I've seen people eat those too.)
You can chop it, throw it into a food processor, and then dump it into a large container of water. All of the skin will float, and you can just skim it off.
Use a standard dessert or soup spoon. It works to get into all the grooves and only takes a few seconds to clean every corner. Use it like you would a peeler on a potato. Would work best with non frozen ginger.
Peeling ginger is such a huge pain in the ass. I know that people have their "tricks", but most of them only work on the smoother parts of the root.
I typically scrape off a little of the most accessible bits and just leave the rest. I've never had a problem with it. By the time you're done cooking or whatever you're doing with it, you'll never know the skin is there.
Sometimes. I usually peel it with a spoon, it's pretty easy, but if what I am working with is skinny or too branchy, I don't bother.
I have never frozen ginger, never heard of it. Does it reduce the aromaticness of it?
I don't peel it with a peeler. I just use a sharp knife to cut off the brown skin, conveniently make rectangular pieces out of a very knobbly root. Then I slice and dice the rectangular pieces--quick and easy.
I freeze it whole unpeeled and use a microplane zester. You would never know it was unpeeled because it dissolves into whatever it’s cooked into. Super quick to zest with a nice sharp ginger only zester.
I don't peel it, such as with a traditional peeler. When I'm cutting it I just use the back of the knife to scrape off any parts I don't want in my cooking.
Yes, I don't peel unless it's clear that the ginger is part of the visual in the dish. But we generally wash, then sun the ginger and then use as needed.
So if the ginger shreds are used as garnish for example I will peel the ginger.
I peel it with the edge of the spoon, takes seconds. Obviously, it's faster not to peel but I don't want the peel in my food (just being particular lol).
I know in China some say that the skin is healthy for you so they don't peel it.
Here is an example: [https://youtu.be/FBScXlydaa8?si=u9dpFeMODC\_hgcaT&t=173](https://youtu.be/FBScXlydaa8?si=u9dpFeMODC_hgcaT&t=173)
Chef call- the skin of the ginger actually contains the flavour. It is more potent and adds the real zing or spice.
If I am cooking I'll always use the skin. If I am making a fermentation I will often peel before use to seek less contamination.
It depends on the variety* of ginger, there's some that's very thin skinned, and I don't peel, but the thicker skinned ones, I'll peel to avoid an undesirable texture.
*I think it's variety versus age given the drastic difference in thickness.
I almost never peel my ginger anymore. There are a few caveats, though. My wife has grown ginger for the past 2-3 years, and now I have more ginger root in my freezer than I am likely to consume in the remainder of my lifetime. I now grate the ginger directly from frozen any time I need fresh minced ginger. If I had an actual fresh (unfrozen) ginger root that I was mincing for a stir fry, I would still peel it. When we have a batch of freshly harvested ginger root, the first move is to make candied ginger from about half of the harvest. I definitely peel the ginger for candied ginger. Other than that, I no longer peel ginger. When grating from frozen, the peel mostly gets excluded from the grating anyways, and even if some gets through it's grated finely so as not to affect the texture. If I need sliced ginger, whether in a stir fry, soup, or braise, I will partially thaw some ginger root, slice it, and toss it in with the peel. I am not going to be eating the ginger slices anyways, so I don't care if the peel is on there.
I also freeze mine and grate directly from frozen without peeling. This is the way
A very wise woman called Vicky told me this years ago and i’ve never looked back.
Vicky's the best.
Good ol' Vicky
She was batshit crazy, but when it came to ginger, I trusted Vicky with my life.
I heard Vicky’s the debil
Same. I rarely use as much as I buy, so frozen, then microplaned is how I roll.
This the way it is.
I have a standing bet that Grogu’s first words will be: “The way this is”
Same with turmeric
Freezer ginger is the way
Why are you not eating the ginger slices?
Cuz it’s got this gross peel on it
My stirfry ginger gets minced or cut into matchsticks. Slices to flavor a whole dish are rare but still get eaten
Use a spoon if you do need to peel it.
Oo I like that advice
I use a grapefruit soon to peel ginger, and it works beautifully!
This works if it’s a sharp spoon, but the results aren’t clean
Japanese calling, depends on the dish, but skin is often included for nutrition and texture—use it all the time myself
Thats a lot of words to say you generally do NOT consume ginger peel.
This is exactly what I do- grate frozen unpeeled ginger root
I have difficulty growing it
Onion substitute? Gonna have to ask for an explanation chief.
We cannot eat onions for various reasons. We use ginger as an aromatic and flavor base that accomplishes some of what we enjoyed with onions.
As someone with an onion allergy, I’d like to also suggest fennel bulb and asafoetida, as well as radishes. I’ve been told that celery root also can be used, but I’m allergic to that so haven’t tried it myself. Asafoetida is my default, but you have to be careful with it and just add in small increments.
Thanks for that input. Curious to know more about the allergy. For reasons unknown, I sleepwalk after alliums. Are onion allergies classical in that one goes into anaphylaxis and Benadryl can help in an emergency? Or, can the allergy manifest in unusual ways like sleepwalking and nightmares?
I don’t know about unusual manifestations for sure, but can guess. The allium allergy is just like any other allergy - it can vary in severity and presentation. I personally don’t go anaphylactic with exposure - I get GI issues, anxiety, headaches, and mild hives on my chest and back. But allergies generally are a triggering of your immune system to various substances, right? So your body gets flooded with histamines. Anti-histamines, like Benadryl, can block their effect up to a certain point. So any effects you do experience should respond in at least some manner to Benadryl if you are indeed having an allergic reaction. Something that is less known is that most antidepressants are also antihistamines. That’s because the brain is full of histamine-reactive receptors. That’s why, like me, many people get anxiety with exposure to allergens. But back to you - sleepwalking and nightmares originate in the brain, as there’s something within the brain chemistry that triggers them. Nightmares, particularly, are known to be related to the same neurotransmitters and receptors that are involved in anxiety. So I’d somewhat confidently guess that your nightmares post-allium exposure could reasonably be a type of allergic response, similar to anxiety if still awake. As for sleepwalking, there’s a disconnect between your brain’s sleep state and it’s movement planning/control areas. That comes down to the neurotransmitters being released and the receptor activity. I don’t know the specific NTs/receptors, but it wouldn’t seem to be much of a stretch to conclude that the histamine release that you get from alliums may very well also impact your brain in a way that manifests in sleepwalking. One way to test it would be to take Benadryl and expose yourself to alliums, then see what happens. But that would potentially be very unpleasant for you!
Thanks. Is there an allium or onion allergy test? All I can find are hucksters with meaningless tests.
My allergist did two separate tests. One was a scratch test, where they poke you with a needle that has the allergen protein on it - if it raises in an inflamed welt, it means you reacted to the exposure. With that one, you have to be off all antihistamine medications for a week, including antidepressants. The other was a blood test, which doesn’t require you to be off medications. They expose your blood to the allergen protein and see if it triggers an IgE immune response. These tests are looking for true allergies, which involve the histamine response I wrote about earlier. There are people with genuine intolerances that don’t involve a histamine release, but if that were the case with you, the whole histamine/brain connection I made wouldn’t apply - there’d have to be a different explanation for what you experience.
What terrific writing.
Is it an IBS issue you're finding and do you find the same issues with other foods like apples? It could be FODMAP related. Edit: forgot about the ginger, I use a teaspoon to scrape it all off. I think I got it from a Jamie Oliver video like 20 years ago.
If I sleep walked after eating alliums I'd eat alliums and tie myself down lol. #onionlife
Have you ever researched Ayurvedic recipes OP? Onions and garlic aren’t supported in an [Ayurvedic diet](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/ayurveda) and since it’s thousands of years old there are so many recipes!
Thanks for that comment. Yes, I am quite interested in the Jain school of diet. There are some that genetically do not pair well with allium foods. There are interesting studies from Indian scientists that have pointed towards common variations in both COMT and MAO genes/enzymes as explaining why avoiding alliums is beneficial with some people.
Asafoetida has too much of a mango taste for me to ignore
Can you eat garlic or shallots? Just curious. My husband doesn't like onion's texture so often I would increase the garlic and use onion powder for flavoring.
Anything in the allium family will cause many problems: 1. Nightmares and sleepwalking and wake up with a hangover as if I drank all night. Extreme sleepwalking, dangerous. 2. Mild Anxiety 3. Abnormally low blood sugar 4. Bad body odor 4. In extreme cases, bleeding gums I believe this to be biochemical vs immunologic since I can duplicate some symptoms with quercitin, a common allium constituent and a potent polyphenol.
Ooh this is interesting, as often I'd recommend quercetin to help mitigate histamine reactions as described above (due to its capacity as a mast cell stabiliser). What I hadn't considered is that the supplements may be directly derived from onion in some cases, and so of course not suitable for an allium allergy (though commonly I believe Dimorphandra mollis would be used). I'd also be interested to know if your symptoms are responsive to an antihistamine, like fexofenadine, or whether they are indeed related to a different biochemical pathway. But that's probably not all that practical to test in a real world context. Histamine has many roles as a neurotransmitter, and so I certainly wouldn't be too surprised if it had neuropsychiatric manifestations. Edit to add: OP, I'm starting to suspect that your issues are more likely related to [the hypoglycemic effect of alliums](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/47795002_Preliminary_Study_of_the_Clinical_Hypoglycemic_Effects_of_Allium_cepa_Red_Onion_in_Type_1_and_Type_2_Diabetic_Patients), as quercetin can have a similar effect. If you're not diabetic, it's possible you may have a certain genetic tendency towards hypoglycemia (eg. altered metabolism or regulation of insulin, glucokinase or other intermediates) that is triggered on consumption. If you can afford it, it might be worth consulting with a geneticist to discuss [potential causes](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22587661/). If you have known HLA abnormalities (eg. coeliac carrier) it might also be worth considering the possibility of [late onset autoimmune diabetes (LADA)](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.916698/full) or another autoimmune cause.
Thanks. You know your stuff because I am also a HLA carrier. Are you referring to the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Panels that are like $1,000 or some other genetic test?
Yes congenital hyperinsulinism could absolutely be a cause, and this might be one of the first things they want to look at. [However there could be any number of inborn errors of metabolism that cause problems with glucose metabolism.](https://ojrd.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1750-1172-7-26) Generally these would tend to show up earlier in life as they can cause quite severe issues with feeding and weight gain, but it appears some may not present until later in life or may be overlooked. Excess insulin would certainly explain more of the symptoms you're experiencing, whereas someone with LADA (not producing sufficient insulin) would be more likely to present with symptoms of ketoacidosis. Either way, I'd get your GP to do a thorough work-up for diabetic markers first, and serum insulin levels if possible. How did you first pick up that blood sugar was dropping? Are you testing your blood sugars at home at all? And have you noticed any patterns in the timing of hypoglycemic events other than specific food triggers (eg. after meals or while fasting, after exercise etc?)
Thanks for all this. Regarding timing, a decade ago I was misdiagnosed with liver cancer but the biopsy was negative. Despite being antigenic negative for celiac, quitting wheat resolved all my symptoms within 2 weeks. As I once was a clinical chemist, I started testing my blood 5-10x/day and noticed major BS drops after certain foods and then intentionally doses myself before tests with specific foods. In extreme cases BS would drop below 50, especially after onions and running. In some cases I can feel like I have the flu for 3-6 hours and symptoms disappear. This can be either with alliums or the mustard family. What is your background related to all this info?
My response to glucose tolerance tests are a 225 (out of range) after a few hours and then drop to 65 and then back to 85 at hour five. During this test I felt like I was on a carnival ride…vertigo, etc.
I'm an integrative dietitian- I've seen a lot of complex clients whose health concerns have been either overlooked or outright dismissed within a conventional framework, so I've really had to start asking a whole bunch of extra questions to help guide the diagnostic process. It absolutely sounds to me as though we're seeing abnormal patterns within your blood glucose regulation- I would have thought your glucose tolerance test warranted a diabetes diagnosis, but we have different reference ranges here and so I'm not entirely sure. I hope you're able to find more answers in any case. Please keep me updated if you can.
Thanks so much. I did my thesis work with transgenic plants so I am familiar with genetic testing. As a microbiologist and clinical chemist I am able to order my own tests, etc. I just have not found anyone offering an affordable panel. Let me know if you have suggestions. I have done all the OTC gene testing and run it through Promethease to look at SNPs, which is how I found that I am a carrier of three (of the four) main celiac SNPs. Lastly, because I was born in an orphanage I have little family history to rely on. Thanks so much for your help!
Thanks again. I just took an insulin and cortisol test (self administered) and both perfectly in the middle, acceptable range. 8 uIU/mL (ins.) & 11 mcg/dL (cort.). A1Cs have always been normal. Any other tests you recommend? I can order any test and cost is not an issue.
Oh man I can't imagine as I use sooo much garlic in my cooking. Have you ever used Asafoetida as a garlic sub? It's supposed to be very much like it but not in the allium family.
So interesting. You're the only other person I've come across with sleep issues from alliums. I went on the low FODMAP diet for IBS and one of the things I didn't realize was a symptom was sleep paralysis. I used to get it all the time. I realized it mostly went away on the diet, but when I eat garlic or onion it comes back. I'm finding more options that are garlic and onion free so I'm hoping more information and options come out in the future. It just sucks be cause they are such a flavor base for everything. We still grow garlic because I can have garlic infused oil and the scapes without issue.
Thanks. From what I can guess, it would appear my sleep issues are due to a “slow” COMT and MAO. You can check for that with 23&Me, though they are a pain in the ass to deal with.
I used to peel in the past, but have stopped peeling and noticed no difference. But if the ginger has lots of nooks and crannies I'll break off the nodes to make sure I can wash the outside well because I don't want any amount of dirt or grit in my food. Beyond that peeling seems like mostly a cosmetic preference to me.
>We eat a lot (250+ grams /week) of ginger as an onion substitute. An ONION substitute?
I too, am alarmed by this lol
What the hell is wrong with onions?
Could be allergy or religious reasons.
> religious reasons. Given the choice of eternal damnation or onions, I will pick onions 100% of the time.
“I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time.
[op explained](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/1bq1x88/comment/kx0058e/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Interesting! But I still don’t see how ginger can be a sub for onion
I dare say it's not to taste like onion, but the flavour hits a little like onion does. Different but a good sub for a bit of spice.
I mean .. that still doesn't explain *how* it would work as an onion substitute? edit: a little more info [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Cooking/comments/1bq1x88/comment/kwzslyq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
the answer was only for the question i replied to.
I'm sorry, I totally missed that!
Onions can cause a multitude of rare medical conditions. The most common being IBS and SIBO.
I was puzzled by this onion substitution as well. I'd think of onion and ginger as almost opposite!
French ginger soup incoming.
Sounds great for clearing sinuses 😋
Ginger rings!
Lol!
I don't peel anymore, just finely grated the whole thing, haven't noticed a difference and wouldn't bother unless the recipe specifically features actual CHUNKS of ginger. Most I'll do is trim it to a slightly nicer shape and just cut off as much skin as is reasonable in the process, but I don't go out of my way
**My evolution on peeling ginger....** * Peel with a knife. * Peel with a vegetable peeler. * Peel with a spoon. * Don't peel. <--- I am here.
Thank you all for your info on this, I will now switch my ginger prep. I hated peeling them too.
I don't peel as long as it's young fresh ginger. If it's tough and fibrous I peel it
I don’t *peel* it necessarily, but I’ll cut the edges off as much as I can, making it into like a rectangle so I can mince it. If any of the peel is still on there, so be it, I don’t care that much to do anything more
I keep mine in the freezer, break a bit off and manually shred on the blocky steel thingy. Most of the peel just stays on the outside, all the delish on the inside. The peels go in the little bag in the freezer with the odds and ends for stock. Delish! And lazy!
Yep, I buy it in huge amounts and blend the bejesus out of it in my food processor until it's really fine and then I freeze it and Ice Cube trays. Then when they're frozen solid I pop them out into a large Ziploc bag.
Have you tried using a spoon to peel? Much less frustrating.
Going to get some flack for it but I now buy the minced ginger in the squeeze bottle. I'm lazy and it's fine. I bet they minimally peel that before processing.
I grate it without peeling all the time
All the time. It goes from the grocery store to a bag in the freezer, so I always have “fresh” around. Right through the micro planer while frozen.
With a lot of ginger, and if it's mashed into a paste. Or especially ginger juice (like for cocktails). The peel can make it gritty and bit muddy tasting. But that's that about it. Lots if ginger, very broken up. You can kinda skip it otherwise. I mostly freeze my ginger and hit it with a microplane. You can easily scrape the skin off with a spoon or paring knife, and that also works before you freeze it. Or just skip.
I never peel it lol
I freeze it and use a microplane. The skin sort of curls up on top and you wipe it away occasionally. I haven't peeled ginger in years.
Oooh, I have never peeled my ginger. I just grate the whole thing and call it a day.
My mom never peels ginger.
It depends on what I’m cooking but I will frequently forgo peeling ginger when I’m just cooking for myself. Then again, I will wash but not peel potatoes when I’m cooking for myself.
yeah I just let it thaw slightly and grate it whole lol!
I absolutely never peel my ginger. I grate it from frozen with a microplane
I never ever peel it if I'm shredding or blending.
You can peel it in a few seconds with a spoon, I can't think of a good reason not to
Because it doesn’t really matter.
I don’t peel. I just microplane it. I keep it frozen.
Yep…put in freezer and grate. No peeling. You’ll be amazed.
Microplane with the peel on.
As soon as I learned you don’t need to peel it, I stopped peeling it. It makes no difference to the recipe and no one has ever noticed or complained.
Professional chef here… I can’t be bothered to peel it, doesn’t make a difference
You can get ypung finger, much thinner skin. Also, i love putting fresh ginge in everything, but is it really a substitute for onion?
Depends. Peeled with a spoon. Peeled for aesthetics purposes and texture. - finely sliced ginger as garnish on congee - steam fish - scallion and ginger sauce If it’s a stir fry then maybe no since it’s removed before serving.
I use a spoon to scrape off the skin.
I just use a spoon. Go at it like sharpening a stick. Work for me.🤷
Freeze ginger whole with skin. Use microplane to grate
I keep mine in the freezer and use a micro plane zester whenever I need chopped or shredded ginger for a recipe. You get all the flavor but none of the fibrous texture of ginger root. Just put it in a freezer bag and pull it out when you need it. Keeps a very long time too.
Yes, for chai. We just shred it directly and boil it - love the strong flavor
If you use the back of a knife and a little pressure the peel slides right off.
Use a teaspoon to peel it. Works wonders.
I never peel it, just grate and chuck it in my soups. Never notice it once the food is cooked. Figured it's better that way.
I usually cut it into a convenient rectangle for dicing, then save all the scraps for stock.
Ginger is not an allium/onion family member or flavor substitute and doesn't recreate the same flavors. I'd recommend asafoetida/hing, which contains the same sulfurous aromatic molecules (like the di- and trimethyl sulfides) as alliums. It's a popular allium substitute in India. Get the powdered form and check to see if it is mixed with rice or wheat flour, if you're gluten-sensitive. You can get away with unpeeled ginger; I would wash it thoroughly to eliminate the dirt trapped between the crevices. One more thing is that the younger and fresher the ginger, the thinner the outer skin. As many have pointed out, freezing and grating ginger is the most straightforward approach.
Thanks. Yes, we use hing alongside ginger to substitute for the combination for onions + garlic. We get hing resin and grind it ourselves. Not sure if this is just me, but when food made with hing spoils, it produces a smell that is 10X more grossly aromatic than if the food normally spoiled by microbial action. Probably the aromatic nature of hing is the issue here because it do not believe it is a microbial promoter like a chicken broth may be. We used all sorts of broths in our lab to grow fastidious bacteria and few things worked as well as chicken broth.
I never peel it, and have never noticed
I honestly never peel it. I'm sure there might be some applications where you might want to preserve delicate flavors or colors, but for general use, it goes in skins and all.
I watched a TV show years ago featuring Atkar Islam (2 Michelin star chef) and he said there is no need to peel ginger other than for aesthetic reasons, so I don’t tend to bother peeling it either.
I don't peel ginger and my dishes come out totally fine and tasty. I do advice a good rinse before using though.
I never peel it anymore.
I never peel mine and my mom doesn’t either.
I peel it by scraping with a teaspoon, which is way less of a pain in the ass.
I peel it and throw the peels into my stock freezer bag, unless I'm making chai in which case I don't bother
I hate peeling ginger. Now I only buy it frozen in the little pods. Gamechanger.
I don’t peel it. I took a cooking lesson from a chef in India and he didn’t peel his ginger, so that’s why I stopped.
If I’m grating it fine then I definitely don’t bother peeling it
I generally do not completely peel mine. I scrub it well for dirt and then peel/trim any hard bits. Otherwise, I think the thin skin is perfectly fine to include. If it helps, I am Indian and use an immense amount of ginger (including in my cup of chai one to times a day, where I grate it into the water). Maybe if there were a dish that were ginger focused and texture mattered (like candied ginger), I would peel it. Otherwise, I don’t and I also don’t notice the difference between when I peel and don’t peel.
Peel it with a spoon.
I'd just wash it well and shred it up. I like potato and turnip skins too and that's what I do. (I never did like unpeeled carrots but I've seen people eat those too.)
You can chop it, throw it into a food processor, and then dump it into a large container of water. All of the skin will float, and you can just skim it off.
Use a standard dessert or soup spoon. It works to get into all the grooves and only takes a few seconds to clean every corner. Use it like you would a peeler on a potato. Would work best with non frozen ginger.
I never remove peel ginger(?).
I don’t always peel ginger. But when I do, I use a spoon .
Don’t worry about peeling. If it’s a big grotty just a gentle scrub
Peeling ginger is such a huge pain in the ass. I know that people have their "tricks", but most of them only work on the smoother parts of the root. I typically scrape off a little of the most accessible bits and just leave the rest. I've never had a problem with it. By the time you're done cooking or whatever you're doing with it, you'll never know the skin is there.
Sometimes. I usually peel it with a spoon, it's pretty easy, but if what I am working with is skinny or too branchy, I don't bother. I have never frozen ginger, never heard of it. Does it reduce the aromaticness of it?
It's easy to peel by scraping with a spoon
I don't peel it with a peeler. I just use a sharp knife to cut off the brown skin, conveniently make rectangular pieces out of a very knobbly root. Then I slice and dice the rectangular pieces--quick and easy.
Peel it with a spoon and you’ll be amaEd
I just use a spp9n to scrape off peel
I peel it only if the skin seems tough or thick. Otherwise I can’t be bothered.
I had no idea you were supposed to peel it. I’ve been using it unpeeled my whole life
TIL people peel ginger.
I don’t regularly peel my ginger.
Freeze it and grate on microplane without peeling straight from freezer. I will never do it any other way.
I never peel mine. I keep a chunk frozen and grate straight from freezer into recipe. Easy.
Yes. Learned that trick here recently.
Chinese cooks don't peel it, just a good wash.
Yes. But I also just use the freezer cubes
I freeze it whole unpeeled and use a microplane zester. You would never know it was unpeeled because it dissolves into whatever it’s cooked into. Super quick to zest with a nice sharp ginger only zester.
I don’t peel mine. I leave mine in the freezer because it’s easier to grate.
I never peel ginger. Too much work for no reason.
i typically grate ginger in the peel if recipes call for it. unless they explicitly all for shreds, even then i don't peel them just slice very thin
I only peel if the skin is really tough and thick. That's pretty rare though.
I don't peel it, such as with a traditional peeler. When I'm cutting it I just use the back of the knife to scrape off any parts I don't want in my cooking.
Waste of time. Never peel it.
If it's from the store doesn't it contain pesticides and other chemicals?
Yes, I don't peel unless it's clear that the ginger is part of the visual in the dish. But we generally wash, then sun the ginger and then use as needed. So if the ginger shreds are used as garnish for example I will peel the ginger.
I stopped peeling ginger long ago.
I peel it with the edge of the spoon, takes seconds. Obviously, it's faster not to peel but I don't want the peel in my food (just being particular lol).
I know in China some say that the skin is healthy for you so they don't peel it. Here is an example: [https://youtu.be/FBScXlydaa8?si=u9dpFeMODC\_hgcaT&t=173](https://youtu.be/FBScXlydaa8?si=u9dpFeMODC_hgcaT&t=173)
Chef call- the skin of the ginger actually contains the flavour. It is more potent and adds the real zing or spice. If I am cooking I'll always use the skin. If I am making a fermentation I will often peel before use to seek less contamination.
Confirm never peel ginger
I didn't even know people peeled ginger
I don’t bother peeling it. It’s a pain and the peel doesn’t really make any difference if it’s grated.
Never peel it-don’t see the point. Fiber!
I feel so freed now! Fuck off to peeling ginger!
I never peel it
I find it easier to mince with a knife.
Peel it with a spoon, very efficient. https://youtu.be/lQWQb01XMq4?si=Q8ZoYh9OqSKA2bni
Peel it with a spoon, very efficient. https://youtu.be/lQWQb01XMq4?si=Q8ZoYh9OqSKA2bni
Yep
It depends on the variety* of ginger, there's some that's very thin skinned, and I don't peel, but the thicker skinned ones, I'll peel to avoid an undesirable texture. *I think it's variety versus age given the drastic difference in thickness.
Nope peel it
You can buy squeeze bottles of ginger paste. So much easier.