Ginger Beer, Sorrel, Mauby, and commonsense this Christmas!

Nov 23, 2014 Countryman, Features / Columnists

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Countryman – Stories about life, in and out of Guyana, from a Guyanese perspective

By Dennis Nichols
Christmas, the jolly old, spirit-uplifting season, has just about arrived, and with it the

traditional over-consumption of food and drink – the anticipated seasonal indulgence. But for some health-conscious Guyanese like me, it’s a time for more sober reflection, aware as we are that this time of year sees an increase in the frequency and worsening of symptoms related to diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Yes, the latter two have been so classified by the American Medical Association. (AMA)
If you look dispassionately at this phenomenon, you may wonder why it isn’t worse; why more people don’t get sick, hospitalized, or even die from the consequences of unchecked Christmas bingeing. The indulgent combination of Black and Sponge Cake, Pepperpot, Garlic Pork and other meat specials, ‘Soft’drinks and the ‘Harder’ stuff can undo the stoutest of constitutions and overwhelm the strongest of hearts.
But there could be a little secret in the season smorgasbord that mitigates this possible eventuality. It’s the variety of local drinks, fruit cocktails, (non-alcoholic) juices, blends, smoothies, and traditional beverages, including some of the tangiest, tastiest and healthiest to be found anywhere on the planet, like Sorrel, Ginger Beer, Mauby, all of which I would advocate for not only Christmas, but year-round, consumption. I’ll take a brief but focused look at the health advantages of these three very Guyanese

drinks, and why they are considered gems of salubrity.
Yep, fruits, roots and tree bark – a simple motley selection, but packed with some of the best stuff you can put into your body. Additionally, they help bring out the spicy, tropical essence of a truly Guyanese Christmas, (along with the foods mentioned earlier) and when made into beverages, are health-superior to Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta, and all their carbonated cousins. You can check out the connection between sodas and an unhealthy lifestyle. Little more than sugar water, they are reportedly devoid of nutritional value and are increasingly being linked to serious diseases like the ones mentioned earlier.
Since the start of the new millennium, as I stumbled through mid-life, I found myself pondering such health issues more and more. This includes my own, my family’s, and those of the people in whichever society I found myself during that period – Guyana, The Bahamas, and the United States. And I found a common thread, a triple-disease strand, strongest in The Bahamas, but still very pronounced here and in America, a dangerously worrying trend especially around major celebrative events like Christmas.
For example, it’s impossible for me to exaggerate the amount of ‘coloured drink’ that Bahamians, especially young people and schoolchildren, consume. At schools where I taught, I have observed

children guzzling sodas and sugary,  canned so-called ‘juices’ three or four times a day, from Monday to Friday. No amount of advice or health education seems to penetrate into their glucose-hungry brains. And guess what? The Bahamas has a huge Diabetes and Heart Disease problem; ditto Guyana and the U.S. albeit to an apparently lesser degree.
Symptoms of this pernicious triple threat can swiftly take the joy out of the joyous season and leave you knotted up on the inside with guilt, regret, sickness and worse. Your heart, liver, stomach and pancreas are vital organs, indispensable to good health and longevity, and you do not want to be messing around with how they work. A few extra pounds may be easy to handle, but a heart attack or a diabetic coma can dispatch you to the other end of the life continuum at a time when you should be celebrating birth (Jesus’) not contemplating death.
But back to Ginger Beer, Sorrel and Mauby. Ginger is a rhizome of the Ginger plant, sorrel, the sepals and calyces of the Roselle plant, and mauby, the bark of the Colubrina Elliptica plant. Guyanese are quite familiar with the steeping/infusion process whereby these derivatives are made into tasty and revitalizing drinks, so I wouldn’t rehash that. What I’ll do is tell you about some of their reputed and researched health benefits, starting with ginger beer. (Note that these benefits are based on continuing research which may not be endorsed by some medical authorities)
Since ginger is its main ingredient, this beverage incorporates into its brewing all of its health properties. Research is showing that apart from having a very high concentration of antioxidants, it aids digestion and counteracts nausea, relieves morning sickness in pregnant women, relieves arthritic pain, kills some cancer cells, provides relief from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and helps manage blood glucose levels. It also helps clear sinuses and opens up the airways in asthmatic patients by reducing inflammation. And once you can handle its pungency, it tastes great.
Like ginger, sorrel has strong antioxidant compounds. It is also high in dietary fibre and is a rich source of Vitamin C, as well as a group of compounds called flavonoids which help scavenge the body of disease-causing Free Radicals. Studies at Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica show that it can kill certain types of cancer cells, and may reduce the risk of heart disease by reducing elevated cholesterol levels. In India and Africa it is used as a diuretic, to lower blood pressure and stimulate the liver’s production of bile. Studies in Jamaica also show that it may help induce weight loss, detoxify the body, and improve health generally. And you can get much of this in a glass of the tangy, sparkling-red beverage.
Finally Mauby, not necessarily associated with a Guyanese Christmas, but definitely one of my favourites. Like both Ginger Beer and Sorrel Drink, Mauby is reputed to have great health benefits. These include reducing cholesterol, relieving diarrhea, fighting diabetes, and, in combination with coconut water, lowering blood pressure. It is also believed by some Caribbean men to be an aphrodisiac, so the Mauby-coconut water blend could be just the thing for a lazy libido. And that uniquely bitter-sweet taste is like nothing else on God’s good earth.
Now the great thing about these natural, home-made libations is that, unlike most canned and bottled drinks, they are almost 100% free of additives, preservatives and fillers. Healthy, invigorating, and eminently affordable, there’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t grace our tables, and our palates, in preference to that ‘other stuff’ that uses chemicals agents, dyes, emulsions and artificial sweeteners to enhance what is essentially carbonated water.It’s commonsense really, once you get over the ‘foreign’ syndrome.
So this Christmas, all you soda and fake juice lovers – for your health’s sake, for your wallet’s (or credit card’s) sake, and for goodness’ sake, boot the canned and bottled brews. Rekindle the love affair with Ginger Beer, Sorrel, and Mauby. Or Cherry, Guava, Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Papaw and Soursop.  And watch those Black Cake and Pepperpot overloads. Your stomach, liver and heart will thank you. And if they don’t, I will.

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