Spices For Health And How To Add Them To Your Diet

Here are 5 spices high in anti-aging antioxidants and nutritional benefits. They are inexpensive and widely available. I believe that by using them regularly in our food, we can do great things for our health.

What is the difference between herbs and spices?

Herbs are seasonings from green, leafy plants like parsley or cilantro. We mostly use the leaf part of the herbs.

Spices are aromatic plants, the part that is generally used is the seed, fruit or root. Spices include ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, saffron, and cloves.

Be sure to watch the videos for some terrific recipes for curries and meals using these spices.

This article features my favorite spices and their health benefits.

Turmeric is native of Indonesia and southern India, where it has been grown for 5,000 years. Turmeric is rich in curcumin, a special phytonutrient, which has powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Being an excellent source of manganese and iron, turmeric is used in curry powder and mustard.

You can use turmeric in soups and stews, add to salad dressings, add to rice and vegetables dishes. Curry powder is a great spice for cauliflower.

Ginger, native to China and Asia, is a good source of potassium, magnesium, copper and vitamin B6. It is well known for its ability to soothe upset stomach. Ginger has strong anti-inflammatory properties, gives a boost to the immune system and is known to help people with arthritis who consume it regularly experience less pain and improvement in their overall mobility.

It's best to use ginger fresh, as the dried one looses a lot of its flavor. You can spice your vegetable, chicken or fish dishes with ginger, add grated ginger to side rice dishes or salad dressings, add small ginger slices to hot tea with lemon (that's my favorite) or make ginger lemonade.

Ginger lemonade recipe (mix freshly grated ginger, honey or agave nectar, lemon juice and filtered ice water, let stay in the fridge for one hour.

The Cayenne-hot and spicy red pepper, and paprika-its milder version reduce blood cholesterol and relieve arthritis pain. Red Hot Chili Peppers contain a powerful phytonutrient called capsaicin which is known to help burn excess fat. Consuming enormous amounts of red pepper still does not give you an excuse not to go to the gym by the way.

You can use red pepper and paprika in any way you can possibly think of. Add to salad dressing for extra color and spice, add to soups, stews, curries, sauces, on top of your pizza, sauteed greens and stir-frys.

Health Benefits of Cinnamon

Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices known to man. A tremendously powerful spice, daily consumption of cinnamon can significantly lower cholesterol and bring down elevated blood sugar levels. Besides providing anti-inflammatory protection, cinnamon's essential oils serve as antimicrobial food which helps fight the common yeats Candida infection.

Cinnamon powder has stronger flavor than sticks.

Cinnamon is very easy to add to your daily foods - add to baked apples, toast wheat bread and spinked some cinnamon on top, add it to your morning oatmeal or hot tea.

Black pepper contains piperine, a phytonutrient with antibiotic properties. The traditional Ayurvedic medicine uses black pepper as an antimicrobial agent. Black pepper is an excellent source of manganese and vitamin K.

Black pepper is very easy to add to your everyday meals, you can pretty much add it to anything but an apple. Add black pepper to chicken or fish before grilling, add it to your favorite soup and stew. It is an excellent flavor enhancer providing our body with a bunch of nutritional benefits.

You get the best flavor if you grind fresh whole peppercorns adding it to your recipe.