The easiest way to make sure you are getting more nutrients into every meal, even when you are grazing at the office cocktail party or the neighborhood potluck dinner is by choosing foods that are loaded with spices. Every time you flavor your meals with herbs or spices you are literally “upgrading” your food without adding a single calorie. You are taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary by adding color, flavor, vitamins, and often medicinal properties. Here’s why:
* Spices and herbs maximize nutrient density. Herbs and spices contain antioxidants, minerals and multivitamins.
* Spices and herbs create a more thermogenic diet. Because spices are nutrient dense, they are thermogenic, which means they naturally increase your metabolism. As your metabolism revs higher you will burn more of the food you have already eaten as fuel, and store less as body fat.
* Some spices and herbs increase your overall feeling of fullness and satiety, so you’ll eat less. One study conducted at Maanstricht University in the Netherlands showed that when one consumes an appetizer with half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes before each meal, it decreased their calorie intake by 10-16%.
* When you flavor your foods with spices instead of salt you’ll immediately see health and physical benefits. Excessive salt intake keeps water inside your body.
* Spices and herbs have real medicinal properties. Study after study shows the benefits of distinct herbs and spices. One study at Malmà University Hospital in Sweden showed that up to two hours after eating, people who ate cinnamon-spiced rice pudding measured significantly lower blood-glucose levels than those who had eaten the unspiced version.
Choose flavor over blandness every time, and try to incorporate these specific herbs and spices into your diet if you have the following health concerns:
- rosemary and basil for their anti-inflammatory power
- cumin and sage for their dementia-fighting power
- cayenne and cinnamon for their obesity-fighting power
- coriander and cinnamon for their sugar regulating powers
- lemon grass, nutmeg, bay leaves and saffron for their calming effects on your mood
- turmeric for its cancer fighting power
- oregano for its fungus-beating power
- garlic, mustard seed and chicory for their heart-pumping power
- basil and thyme for their skin-saving power
- turmeric, basil, cinnamon, thyme, saffron, and ginger for their immune-boosting power
- coriander, rosemary, cayenne, allspice and black pepper for their depression-busting power
Source: The Huffington Post, December 20, 2008
Chapter: Food,Health :: 5 February 2009
