Selena Gomez Eats Ginger Every Single Morning

A few months ago, Selena Gomez participated in "Carpool Karaoke," that extremely popular segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden where Corden drives around with popular singers and they chit-chat and sing the artist's songs. Gomez's segment has popped up again lately, in conjunction with her first-ever Vogue cover, and with it, curiosity about a spicy morning habit has come back, too. In addition to cruising around Los Angeles belting "Hands to Myself," riding a roller coaster (casual), and ordering from a McDonald's drive through, Gomez introduced Corden to one of her morning rituals: taking a shot of ginger.

While she was talking up the habit to Corden, Gomez mentioned that she'll also often eat a piece of raw ginger instead of doing a shot. "Noooo," Corden said, "Doesn't that just burn your throat?" It's a good burn!" Gomez insisted.Corden pulled out two bottles of the kind of ginger shot Gomez usually has ("It's almost like we researched it," Corden joked), and as they clinked bottles, Gomez tried to assuage Corden's suspicions, saying that, thanks to the shots, "You're not going to get sick." As Corden coughed and sputtered through—"That's absolutely disgusting!"—Gomez was cool as a cucumber, enumerating all the benefits. "It's killing everything inside! All of the bad things."

Is that true? Is there something to downing ginger first thing in the morning?

Actually, yeah.

Doctors often prescribe ginger to people dealing with nausea—whether from motion sickness, from riding roller coasters for example, or morning sickness—and to people dealing with gas, due to ginger’s status as a carminative, which helps eliminate excessive gas from the digestive system. Ginger is also a good source of anti-inflammatory compounds called, fittingly, gingerols. Many people with painful ailments like arthritis find some relief from ginger. Due to this anti-inflammatory benefit, singers like Gomez can use ginger to soothe overused vocal chords and throats, too. In addition to all this, ginger has antibacterial properties, so if people are trying to prevent or fight illness, it’s not a bad thing to chomp down on.

Nothing, however, suggests that the time of day affects ginger's effectiveness, though it's likely not the worst idea to start your day with something that's anti-gas, anti-nausea, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial. It may not "kill all the bad things," but it certainly isn't a bad thing to have on your side.