Tag: Spices

Does weather change make you worry about catching a cold? Don't let the frustration take over! Sip on elixirs made of ginger, lemon, and honey to ward off cold, boost your immune system, and relieve a sore throat. These 3 ingredients have several health benefits and can be used with other spices to make delicious home remedies for the common cold.

Make your grocery shopping and cooking experience more interesting with rare vegetables like chokos and cannellini beans, flavoring agents like dukkah and caraway seeds, and seaweed like arame and dulse. These foods are tasty as well as healthy when eaten in moderation. Add them to your regular recipes or experiment with them by steaming, deep frying, sauteing, or just adding them to salads.

The hectic lives that we live in make us often prone to headaches, nausea, gastric issues, cold, and stress. Inflammation, too, is a common...

Turmeric can be a multi-pronged natural treatment for diabetes. Curcumin in it can lower blood glucose levels, improve insulin sensitivity, balance lipid levels, and counter inflammation. Turmeric can also prevent diabetes complications like coronary heart disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, diabetic neuropathy, nephropathy, and retinopathy.

Turmeric has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties that aid in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion, inflammatory bowel disease, and ulcerative colitis. It also prevents colorectal cancer and maintains healthy gut flora. Combine turmeric with kombucha for a gut-healthy probiotic shot. Add it to ginger and apple cider vinegar to relieve stomach cramps, bloating, and nausea. Mix it with honey and black pepper to prevent flatulence and maintain gut health.

Honey and cinnamon are both superfoods, so why not consume them together? The duo can lower your blood glucose, making it a great remedy for diabetes prevention and management. Both have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties, hence relieving arthritis pain, fighting colds, and preventing cancer. Trying to lose weight? Honey controls appetite while cinnamon turns white fat into brown fat, the kind that burns energy.

Bad breath or halitosis can make you feel self-conscious and uncomfortable in social situations. If your colleagues are keeping a safe distance from you...

Curcumin, a dietary polyphenol found in turmeric, can check free radical damage and chronic inflammation, two primary risk factors of cancer. It can also fight carcinogens like heavy metals, H. Pylori bacteria, and a few viruses. Curcumin can also prevent the formation of tumors, enhance apoptosis, cut nutrient supply to cancer cells, and prevent spreading.

By drinking ginger juice, you can help boost immunity and keep your weight in check. By boosting your metabolism, burning fat, and preventing you from overeating, ginger can help weight loss. Ginger also fights inflammation and reduces oxidative damage, thus keeping diseases at bay. However, remember to limit your daily ginger consumption to less than 4g a day.

A study involving 32 postmenopausal women found that consuming a teaspoonful of turmeric every day is just as effective as one hour of exercise in keeping the heart strong and healthy. Thanks to the presence of a compound called curcumin, turmeric is helpful in fighting inflammation and oxidative damage. Because of the relaxing effect it has on our blood vessels, it can also prevent clots that increase one's risk of stroke and heart disease.

Garlic can inhibit the progression of coronary artery calcification by stabilizing vulnerable plaque build-up along the artery walls, while boosting blood pressure and circulation. The presence of active compounds like curcumin in turmeric and eugenol in cloves has been shown to inhibit blood platelet-clotting while mustard oil has been shown to reduce overall bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood.

Turmeric oil can treat fungal skin infections when applied topically and relieve cough and asthma when used in a steam inhalation. Rich with antioxidants, it may also prevent cancer and support cell regeneration in those with neurodegenerative diseases. The oil also eases pain and inflammation, prevents seizures, prevents tooth and gum diseases, and fights arthritis.

Nutmeg is great for your heart as it lowers cholesterol and reduces plaque in arteries. It is commonly used to combat gastrointestinal infections and flatulence. This spice improves insulin sensitivity, prevents cavities, and boosts memory and learning capacity. It can also help with depression, work as a sleep aid and aphrodisiac, and fight inflammation. A nutmeg oil massage can relieve aching muscles and joints.

Spices can be a great natural, all-round healthcare remedy. Try cinnamon and turmeric as armor against inflammation and use black pepper, chill pepper, and turmeric to boost immunity and fight infections. Ginger can ease nausea and treat a bout of morning sickness. Cinnamon can improve insulin sensitivity. Exotic spices like fenugreek seeds have the ability to calm a fever and soothe irritated skin. So go on, give them a go – the medicinal powers of your spice jars are waiting to be tapped!

For morning tea lovers, try the energy-boosting, anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, and immunity lifting tea brewed from healthy ingredients like ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, turmeric, honey, and lemon oil. Add ginger slices to boiled water and allow it to steep for 15 minutes. Stir in turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and honey and drink hot on an empty stomach for best results.