Spices For Your Health!

Author: Shannon Miller Lifestyle

Did you know that spices do  a lot more than spice up a meal?

Talk about super foods!  When you think about good health and spices, spices add no calories, but add a lot of flavor, and in some cases, a lot more!

Spices for Skin Conditions

Cinnamon

The problem with cinnamon is that it is usually combined with sugar. Sugar is the skin’s enemy. Sugar makes the skin swell, and can actually interfere with skin’s elasticity, making skin stiff and older looking. Cinnamon itself is an anti-inflammatory spice, which reduces the puff . Cinnamon can actually fight acne because it fights bacteria, the cause for the red inflammation of acne. Use cinnamon internally (in foods), not externally (as a scrub) to benefit skin. Try cinnamon without sugar. It’s spicy and fun!

Nutmeg

According to FitDay, nutmeg can work externally as a scrub for acne problems. Work nutmeg into your facial cleanser to create a scrub that exfoliates and removes blackheads. Nutmeg also fights scarring, so if you have acne scarring, try a nutmeg scrub with honey to apply to scars.

Spices for Digestion

Cumin

Cumin, or curry powder, helps in digestion. Think Indian food here. Cumin is high in iron, which helps the red blood cells deliver oxygen to the body’s cells, and it also stimulates enzymes to break down food and helps the liver break down food. Bonus: Cumin is now known as a brain-healthy spice that fights Alzheimer’s disease.

Ginger

For many years, doctors and holistic medicine professionals have recommended ginger to people suffering from digestive disorders of all kinds. Ginger is known to soothe the stomach and help digest meals. Bonus: ginger helps with nausea.

For Premenstrual Symptoms

The aforementioned ginger is a good spice to reduce PMS, as it soothes the stomach problems sometimes associated with PMS.

Marjoram

Marjoram is known to be very calming to the mood and settling to the stomach. It is also a diuretic, which helps with the puffiness around PMS time.

Rosemary

Rosemary also improves mood and prevents anxiety, according to LearnVest.com.

May Prevent Cancer

Everyone likes to know that sometimes spices reduce our risk of cancer. This means that just throwing them into a tasty meal can actually help fight free radicals and other causes of cancer. We have already mentioned Rosemary and Turmeric. These spices are protective against HCA’s, which are free radicals produced in food cooking. These free radicals cause many kinds of cancer and enter our bodies through our food.

Fight Fat

Yes, spices can improve the body’s absorption of food, fight fat, and actually increase metabolism.

Garlic

Delicious garlic, especially when paired with onions, fight fatty deposits and break down fats.

Cayenne

This spicy, hot pepper actually speeds metabolism and lowers blood sugar. Just by adding a little spice to your next meal, you can actually increase metabolism by about 15% for a couple of hours, and keep your blood sugar down, which reduces the need to eat more in less time.

SML TIP:  Spices are a miracle in food! They make foods exciting and memorable, but they also can do wonders for your overall health.