Spices with Healing Powers

Besides giving complex flavours into food, some spices also have medicinal properties. Here are some spices that can be used to minimize symptoms and even treat some basic health problems.

Cinnamon                            

Cinnamon is one of the oldest spices. It was used for embalming in Egypt 2500 years ago. Most spices are the seed of a plant, but cinnamon is the inner layer of bark from a tree, which is dried and rolled.

Traditionally, cinnamon is regarded as a warming medicine, used to gradually reduce congestion and phlegm in the lungs, and dry up runny noses.

Adding a cinnamon stick to your ginger tea will increase its effectiveness. Ground cinnamon can be used to flavour breakfast cereal and muesli.

Cloves

Cloves are native to eastern Indonesia and were probably the first breath fresheners. Cloves are still a useful addition to your spice medicine chest. They can be used to calm bloating and flatulence-fruit stewed with a pinch of cloves not only tastes good, but is also a digestion-calming dessert.

Paprika

The paprika plant is from the same family as chilli. Paprika comes in several varieties: sweet, hot, mild and smoked, and they each have their own distinctive flavour. Be careful when buying “smoked” paprika that you get the genuine article, as some manufacturers just add smoke flavour and MSG to sweet paprika.

Like chilli, paprika is high in antioxidants, including betacarotene, capsanthin, quercetin and luteolin.

Anise                    

Like ginger, anise has several uses. It’s still used as an aromatic digestive, a group of remedies that calms digestive problems, and reduces nausea, gas and bloating. Anise can also be used as an expectorant and can be used for coughs and colds.

Anise works well in vegetable soups: add seeds or whole star anise when frying onion and garlic. You can also make a tea by pouring boiling water over slightly crushed seeds. Drink a cup of this after dinner, or anytime you are feeling a bloated or gassy.

Ginger      

Medically ginger is a multitasker, used to combat nausea and digestive complaints, yet also useful against mild coughs and colds.

Turmeric                             

India has one of the lowest rates of bowel cancer in the world and that’s believed to be partly due to turmeric. Recent years have seen a bang of research into curcumin, an antioxidant found in turmeric. Studies have shown it has anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer activities. You can up your turmeric intake by adding some to rice.

Chilli and cayenne pepper

In the history of herbalism, chilli is related with some of the more heroic treatments. In the early 1800s it was used in huge doses to warm up the body and purge it of disease. We take a more gentle approach now, using much lower quantities to improve the circulation, and help clear out mucous and phlegm from the sinuses and nasal passages.

Capsaicin is the substance that makes chillies hot and this is currently being researched for a range of health benefits, including possible anticancer effects. Cayenne pepper is a mixture of hot chillies mixed together to give a consistent heat. It’s a hot powder, so use it sparingly in soup or mixed with burgers. Alternatively, sprinkle a pinch of cayenne over rice or poached eggs.

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