My mom has always been such a good cook, that I never bothered learning how to cook until I was on my own and with a husband to cook for. Fortunately, I was intrigued by what was making her food taste so good that I was happy to learn.
Must have spices
All the spices and herbs she is using are a must in her kitchen and now in mine. Spices like coriander, cumin, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, celery, parsley, bay leaves, etc., are always stocked in our pantries. The first reason we use these spices is to enhance the flavor of our dishes, but recently I have been seeing many reports about the health benefits and that made me really curious. So I decided to do some research and I was really stunned by what science is now revealing about the advantages of these spices and herbs.
Surprising health benefits
For years we have been cooking with these spices, without knowing about the health benefits and they are truly amazing! Spices and herbs have been used for a long time by traditional healers who knew the results, but could not explain what the herbs and spices were actually doing for our bodies. Now I think I finally understand why many of us (in my family) are seldom sick. While many people around us may be suffering from, for example the flu or a cold, we carry on without catching any one of those bugs. I was never sure why, but now I believe that the spices we use may be playing a role in keeping us healthy (speaking from personal experience, so this is not a claim). Some other benefits include lowering blood sugar and cholesterol levels, easing stomach discomfort, pain relief and much more. Isn’t that another wonderful excuse to use the natural flavor enhancers in our food?
Some experts claim that the amount of spices and herbs we use in our cooking may not be sufficient to deliver the results they claim. For example, to experience the anti-inflammatory effects of turmeric, a daily serving of one tablespoon would be necessary and in the article they indicate that no one would actually use that every day in their cooking. While that may be true, I still think that any amount of turmeric consumed is better than none and if it’s combined with other spices, that’s even better. Of course, for those who want or need the specific effect of a spice, there are supplements to serve the purpose. Foodie that I am, I prefer to have the dual benefits by enhancing the flavor of my food, and at the same time help my body naturally heal or become resistant to disease.
Spices and weight loss
In the reports I also saw another good reason to use spices and herbs. They may help with weight loss! How, you may ask? Well, it seems that some spices help to suppress the appetite (i.e. garlic) and others speed up metabolism, burning fat faster (i.e pepper). Spices are also used to flavor low calorie and low sodium food, in turn helping to keep your meals, and therefore your body, healthy.
Healthy Spices & Herbs articles
Doesn’t this make you want to learn more about the topic? You could browse the internet and find tons of good resources, reports, blogs, news articles and such. But I made it easy for you and wrote a series of articles about healthy spices and herbs.Why not save your time and sign up here to get the free newsletter article series? You will learn much more about the health benefits of spices frequently used in the recipes on this blog.
Visit the page of Free Spice Articles to learn more and sign up. I will send you two newsletters per week, each highlighting a spice with some interesting facts, the healing properties and recipe recommendations. In addition, you will also receive blog posts and (occasional) news updates that may not be posted on the blog. Go ahead and sign up here. You will not regret it!
Live healthy, live happy!