Many people who try to eat healthier reduce sugar and fat in the diet. But one detail many miss or neglect is that you can replace the sweet and greasy ingredients with strong spices. You’d be surprised at how good spices are for your health – both directly and indirectly. In this article, we will share the many reasons why spices are good for your health because we believe this is a topic that is not discussed enough in the world of food and health. Spices should not be underestimated.
To start with, spices are not only generally good directly, but also for the sake of taste. When you use spices, you get a completely different relationship to dishes that taste something specific and distinct. The fact is also that spicy foods have some positive effects
Much of the food that you overeat is rather tasteless. That is why you can eat so much of it. Some overweight people have just as delicate taste buds as infants and prefer foods that aren’t too hot or spicy. Instead, you add lots of cream or fat or disturb the amount of sugar to be satisfied with the food.
Some spice habits come from home, your food culture, and your relationship with spices when growing up.
If you don’t have a close relationship with spices, you will probably find it hard to estimate spicy foods This is because the taste buds practice a certain behavior. When we eat spicy food, our tongue gets a shock, unless we have been brought up with it. But the good news is that you can get used to new flavors.
Health benefits of spices
- Garlic, cayenne, chili, and strong. Strong spices tend to raise the body’s temperature and thus energy consumption. This means that spicy food can actually help you lose weight. Furthermore, when food is spicy, you tend to eat less of it, thus keeping you from overeating, which can often be the case with food that is more tasteless. Spicy food also keeps you from eating too fast, which enables you do feel when you get full, so you don’t keep eating even though you are full.
- Piperine, one of the substances in pepper, is said to stimulate the stomach to absorb more important nutrients to a greater extent. This means that the nutrients can be better utilized by the body. Adding pepper to your dishes is something that you should do. Not only is it good for your health, but it also enhances the tastes of the dishes.
- Mustard is a gastric juice stimulant that is said to speed up the intestine, which is good if you are sluggish in the stomach.
- Cinnamon is said to lower blood sugar and improve blood fats in diabetics. In fact, cinnamon has proven to have a number of different health benefits. One benefit is that cinnamon is sweet and can be used to add sweetness to dishes and pastries, thus reducing the need for sugar. At the same time, it is low in calories. Some studies also suggest that cinnamon helps with inflammation and reduce free radicals and fight bacteria.
- Fennel contains anethole which stimulates digestion.
- Chili contains important antioxidants, such as Vitamin C and Vitamin A. Chili is the plant that contains the highest vitamin A content.
- Cardamon is sweet and delicious and also has health benefits! It is kind to your stomach and soothes an upset stomach. So if you have an upset stomach, try som cardamon.
- It is also rich in magnesium and zinc and may reduce inflammation.
- Chili peppers, with their spicy and strong taste, will enhance your food and make it more vibrant. Chili peppers have also proven to boost metabolism and keep the blood vessels healthy.
- When eating red pepper, the adrenaline in the body rises. Adrenaline has a generally increasing effect on metabolism and leads to high blood pressure, sweating, and high heart rate, which together causes the metabolism to increase.
- Food that is seasoned with ginger gives higher incineration than uncooked food. Ginger can also help with an upset stomach as it has a calming effect. Ginger has also proven to ease nausea.
- Lemon in the food makes you slow down your eating. In other words, you don’t eat as much if the food has some splash of lemon on it. The best part is that adding a splash of lemon to your food is really simple!
- Cumin is a spice that is rich in iron, which is good for you. Some studies have also found that it can help with weight loss.
- Garlic – Apart from the fact that garlic is a lovely addition to many dishes, that enhance the flavors, it also comes with a number of health benefits. Garlic includes allicin, which, according to some studies, lower the risk of heart disease. It may also reduce cholesterol and high blood pressure. For full health benefits, you need fresh garlic and not dried.
- Turmeric has curcumin, which is an antioxidant that has proven to ease inflammation. Turmeric may also help ease pain. Further studies claim that it can slow down Alzheimer’s disease.
- Rosemary is a really fresh and vibrant herb that not only taste delicious but also has a wonderful smell. This herb is full of antioxidants that prevent cell damage.
- Cocoa – many people associate cocoa with candy and chocolate, but cocoa in pure form is actually really healthy. Cocoa comes from the cocoa bean which is full of flavonoids. Flavonoids are antioxidants that have proven to improve heart health. One reason for this is that it lowers cholesterol and blood pressure.
Health tips to spices
- Throw away general, all-around spices. The issue with these all-around spices is that they often contain a lot of additives such as glutamate, sugar, palm oil, and more). This also includes ketchup, Barbecue spice, vanilla sugar. etc.
- Buy home flavored flakes with chili, tabasco, vanilla powder, cardamom, cinnamon, sambal oelek, lemon pepper, Japanese soy, black pepper, dijon mustard.
- Invest in fresh spices like ginger, rosemary, basil, and always have lemon and lime at home. These can be used for almost everything! Fresh chili is also good. If you want sweetness, honey is good, and a much better alternative than regular sugar.
- Nuts provide fine edge and crunch to many dishes. Either in natural form or roasted. You lightly roast them in the frying pan without grease. Just pine nuts are great for salads or root vegetables!