5 Ways To Spice Up your Meals & Your Health!
Adding spice to your meals will provide extra flavors and more importantly, boost your health and immune system.
Spicing up your food doesn’t just make it tasty, it also gives you much needed health benefits.
Every time we cook a meal, we usually add in the common spices: garlic, salt, and pepper. It can add a lot of flavor and bring out the food’s natural flavor as well. Did you know that, when you consume garlic, it helps boost your immune system to fight off colds and it can lower your blood pressure? Go ahead and add a few more sprinkles of garlic to your meal. Or, even better, roast some fresh garlic chunks and throw it in your next pasta dish, grilled chicken, or steak. Yum!
The Earth and our gardens have a lot more to bring to the table than we may realize. Have you ever made rosemary chicken? Well, if not, you should try it – especially if you or your children suffer from allergies. Rosemary has an active ingredient called rosmarinic acid, which helps to suppress allergic responses and nasal congestion. Wow! Who would have thought? All that flavor, and it even helps fight allergies and congestion!
Cinnamon, Yummy! If you live anywhere that apple orchards and fall activities are abundant, you will always find plenty scents and flavors everywhere, a few being apples, cinnamon, and pumpkin spice. You can practically smell the cinnamon in the air! Cinnamon comes from the bark of a cinnamon tree, and is a natural and yummy way to add flavor to many dishes, drinks, and desserts. Cinnamon not only tastes great, but it helps lower blood sugar as well. Go ahead and add that cinnamon stick to your apple cider, or sprinkle that cinnamon on your apple; enjoy your healthy snack!
Let’s Talk Turmeric! You have probably seen posts and ads stating how great turmeric is. Well, it’s true!
Turmeric has proven itself to be very useful in lowering inflammation. For those not familiar with turmeric, it is the spice that gives curry its yellowish color. Turmeric contains a wonderful compound called curcumin. Curcumin is a known antioxidant and a very strong anti- inflammatory, which can help improve brain function, fight cancer, manage arthritis, and lessen the effects of Alzheimer’s, to name a few.
Holy Basil, Batman! Did you know basil helps fight infection and boosts immunity?
I personally love basil and so does my family. We love it so much, we plant a ton of various types in our garden every year. Basil adds such a yummy flavor to many dishes. Holy Basil is a very well-known basil in India. It helps reduce the growth of molds, bacteria, and yeast, and even helps reduce blood sugar when eating after meals. Some even believe it helps reduce anxiety.
We have so many wonderful, natural ways to help heal and keep our bodies in tip top shape! There are so many other spices that have proven themselves to be great for our bodies – Ginger to relieve nausea and Cayenne to ease pain. Take a little time one day to sit down and read just how wonderful spices are.
Don’t be afraid to add some spice to your meals! Along with adding yummy flavors, you’re also adding a world of benefits to help your body, heal and grow. The saying is true: you are what you eat! 😉
Lori Piwok