Boost Health With a Little Spice
By Tom Herrin
When most of us think of spices, we think about some of the things they may add to our food. This is the intended purpose, but there are some other things that spices may be able to do for us. There are indicators that spices may be able to do some good things to boost health. It may be a matter of finding the right spice for the need and matching them up. There have been enough studies about some of them to give us a pretty good guide.
Cayenne Does More Than Make Your Mouth Burn
The action that we know so well about cayenne is that it can make food seem hotter. While it is not an extremely hot spice, those who are not accustomed to it may find it to be a little testy at first. It is probably one of my favorite spices, and I enjoy using it on pasta and stews. It is just hot enough to liven up the dish. It has also been shown to have some other good properties. It seems to be able to increase metabolism and, possibly, curb appetite. It may help to fight some cancers. In my case, it helped to relieve inflammation when I took it for my knee, so the possibilities may be endless.
Ginger May Treat Nausea
Many of us have had someone give us ginger when we had an upset stomach without us actually realizing it. We may not have even considered the fact that it contains ginger. This spice is pretty effective in soothing such a problem. This includes using it when the stomach issues are not related to illness as much as they may be to some other causes such as cancer treatments or morning sickness. Ginger also seems to help with some kinds of inflammation and managing pain.
Garlic Is a Popular Spice for Health
For many years, people have used garlic for a variety of things. Some have used it to help with heart and blood pressure issues, while others have used it to fight some illnesses. There is some evidence that it may help with any of these issues and possibly lower cholesterol as well. I like a little garlic, but some people find the odor offensive and avoid using it. We keep it to a minimum in foods, but there are supplements available that are pretty much odorless, so if you are interested, you may want to give it a try.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Happy Valley, Ore.