TEN HEALING HERBS AND SPICES

Herbs and spices add distinctive flavors to our cooking.  But little do most people know that the red, yellow and brown powers they sprinkle on their food – not to mention the fresh herbs they cook with—also add significant health benefits.  Herbs and spices come from plants, and many plants as scientists are continuously learning, contain a variety of healing substances—often found in high concentrations in the seeds, oils, and other plant parts that make up herbs and spices.

You think of blueberries when you think about antioxidants, but you should also think of cloves.  You know by now that fatty fish combats inflammation, but so does ginger.  Certain herbs and spices such as garlic and tumeric in particular – may even help us stave of cancer.  And many are potent killers of bacteria and viruses.

These selected ten herbs and spices are the most outstanding of the group.

Cayenne:  The burning sensation you get when you eat foods spiced with cayenne, comes from capsaicin, the oily compound behind most of the health benefits of cayenne and its pepper relatives.  Capsaicin is the active ingredient in many prescription and over-the-counter creams ointments, and patches for arthritis and muscle pain.  Over time, it short-circuits pain by depleting nerve cells of a chemical called substance P, which help transfer pain signals along nerve endings to the brain.  It is also used for treating shingles pain and diabetes-related nerve pain.

1.  It will enhance the traditional cold remedy of chicken soup if it is sprinkled with cayenne.  Cayenne shrinks the blood vessels in the nose and throat which relieves congestion.
2. It is a metabolism enhancer as it speeds up the calorie-burning furnace of the body for a couple of hours after eating.
3. It is thought to act as an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant.
4. It is believed to have anti-cancer properties.

Cinnamon:  It is one of the most powerful healing spices. 

1. It is most famous for its ability to improve blood sugar control to people with diabetes.
2. Some of its compounds improve insulin functions significantly lowering blood sugar with as little as ¼ tsp. to ½ tsp. per day.
3. The same amount could cut down triglycerides and total cholesterol levels by 12 to 30 percent.
4. It can help prevent blood clots making it heart smart.

Cloves:  This is an aromatic spice common in Indian cooking, which contains an anti-inflammatory chemical called eugenol.  This chemical inhibitor COX-2, a protein that spurs inflammation.

1. It ranks extremely high in antioxidant properties based on one study.
2. The combination of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties plenty of health benefits, from boosting protection from heart disease to helping stave off cancer.
3. Slows down the cartilage and bone damage caused by arthritis.
4. Compounds in cloves, like those found in cinnamon, also improve insulin function.

Coriander:  The seeds yield cilantro also known as Chinese parsley (Wansoy) a staple in Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai and Indian cooking. 

1. The seeds have been used for thousands of years as a digestive aid.  Make a strong tea from crushed seeds.  Strain before drinking.
2. It can help some people with irritable bowel syndrome because it calms intestinal spasms that can lead to diarrhea.
3. It used traditionally also as an anti-anxiety herb.
4. Its essential oils fight bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella.
5. Currently it is being studied for its potential cholesterol-reducing benefit which studies revealed that it lowered cholesterol in animals.
6. Coriander acts as an anti-oxidant and Cilandro leaves provide the most anti-oxidant punch of all.

Garlic:  Smash a clove of garlic and take in the pungent aroma.  That famous odor comes from byproducts of allicin, the sulfur compound believed to be responsible for most of the herbs medicinal benefits.  It is what gives garlic its sting.

1.  In some studies, Garlic can reduce moderately cholesterol levels between 5 to 10 percent thus levels the risk of heart disease be as much as 76% by thinking the blood and thereby staving off dangerous clots, and by acting as an anti-oxidant.
2. Its sulfur compounds also appear to ward of cancer, especially stomach and colorectal cancers. 
3. The compounds flush the carcinogens before the damage cell DNA, and force cancer cells that do develop to self-destruct.
4. It is a strong antibacterial and antifungal and can help with yeast infections, some sinus infections and the common colds. 
5. It also repels ticks, even friends and family if you enjoy eating garlic.

Ginger:  This root is a major player in Asian and Indian medicine for centuries, primarily as a digestive aid. 

1. Ginger‘s property to combat inflammation has made researchers very excited about it.
2. Ginger and tumeric reduces pain and swelling in people with arthritis.
3. It works against migraine by blocking inflammatory substances called prostaglandins.
4. In view of this, it may also play a role in preventing and slowing down the growth of cancer.
5. Ginger is god for the stomach because it works in the digestive tract, boosts digestive juices and neutralizes acids as well as reducing intestinal contractions
6. It is proven to be effective against nausea.  It works as well as Dramamine and other nausea stopping drugs, with the added benefit that it does not make one sleepy.
7. It is effective as a preventive medicine, i.e. take it before you feel the symptoms.
8. It is a good short term treatment for morning sickness.

Mustard:  It is made from the seeds of a plant in the cabbage family – considered as a group of strong anti-cancer plants.  Based on studies conducted, mustard seeds contain compounds that suggest may inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

1.    It packs heat that break up congestion.  It is usually used for chest plasters. 

2.  Like Cayenne pepper, it has the ability to deplete nerve cells of substance P, a chemical that transmits pain in the brain, when used externally.

3.    It also stimulates appetite by increasing the flow of saliva and digestive juices.

4.    Mustard powder when added to footbath helps kills athlete’s foot fungus.

5.    Eat not more than a teaspoon of mustard seeds otherwise it can induce vomiting, 

Nutmeg:  It is one of the more important spice imported from the Spice Islands, where it got its

name.

1. Nutmeg has hallucinatory effects those results from the ingestion of large amounts of nutmeg.
2. Its active ingredient myristicin is similar to that caused by the drug ecstasy.
3.  Nutmeg poisoning is real this is the nasty side effect of nutmeg if ingested in large quantities.
4. Nutmeg is a seed of an evergreen tree. And mace is the outer covering of the seed.  Both have strong anti-bacterial properties.
5. Myristicin inhibits an enzyme in the brain that contributes to Alzheimer’s disease.  Its potential as an antidepressant is under study.

Sage:  Like many other herbs and spices, it has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties as well as anti-cancer actions. 

1. It is known as a memory enhancer and has been shown in some laboratory studies to protect the brain against certain processes that lead to Alzheimer’s disease.
2. One of its phyto-chemicals is thujone, best known as a chemical in liquor absinthe that is falsely said to have hallucinatory effects. 
3. Sage shows potential as a diabetes treatment. 
4. It appears to boost the action of insulin and reduce blood sugar.
5. It is sometimes called nature’s metformin since it performs like the common anti-diabetes drug. 
6. Some schools already suggested that sage supplement may help prevent type 2 diabetes.

Tumeric:  The spice that gives yellow color to curry. 

1. It is used in Indian medicine to stimulate the appetite and as a digestive aid.
2. It is fast becoming known to be a potential powerful cancer fighter.
3. Curcumin the chemical that gives tumeric it golden yellow color is considered a top anti-cancer agent.
4. It helps to quell inflammation that contribute to tumor growth and working in much the same way as broccoli and cauliflower to dear carcinogens away before they can damage cellular DNA and to repair already damage DNA.
5. Resents laboratory studies revealed that tumeric helps stop the growth and spread of cancer cells.
6. Research suggests that it may protect against colon cancer as well as melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
7. It is also linked to reduced inflammation in a number of conditions including psoriasis. 
8. In animal studies curcumin decreased the formation of amyloid, the staff that makes up the brain deposits characteristic in people with Alzheimer’s disease.