History Of Spices

Spices have been historically very valuable. Many wars have been fought over them. They were also used to preserve food based on their high antioxidant profile. They could also mask the flavors of rancid food. All plants have build in chemical defense mechanisms to protect the plant. When we ingest these, we also get the benefits. They develop them based off of their geographical region, whether patterns, and predators. They can also be classified as roots, bark, or stems of plants.

How To Use Spices

Store them in a cool, dark place sealed in glass because air, light, and moisture because these things can degrade them. Dries herbs and fresh herbs are both good. Just make sure the dried ones don’t have any unnecessary preserves in them, and when ever possible, get organic.

Interesting Facts

The 5 flavor sensations are sweet, salt, bitter, sour, and umami. There is another thing going on called retronasal olfaction. This translates to back of the nose smelling. When you eat food it stimulates your smell receptors. It travels up the tube to the back of your nose to different parts of the brain. This is actually what gives food its rich taste and character. This is why when you have a cold, food has less or no flavor. We have something called post ingestive feedback. This is when we eat a food and our body takes notes on what types of nutrients are in there for future notice. Part of the way that this happens is through taste. When we test flavor, it always gets tracked back to a particular nutrient.

Benefits Of Spices

1. Improves digestion

The spices are known to stoke digestive fire, and enhance the function of digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid. For example,Ginger is excellent to add to juice to aid on digestion. Ginger has been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine for a variety of conditions.

2. Antioxidants

Spices are very high in antioxidants, especially polyphenols, which are great for the microbiome. As a matter of fact, cloves are in the top 3 of antioxidant containing foods.

3. Regulates blood sugar

Certain spices have been shown to regulate blood glucose levels. For example, ceylon cinnamon has also been shown to regulate blood sugar. Also, dihydroberberine has been shown to improve blood sugar and insulin levels.