5 SPICES YOU HAVE IN YOUR KITCHEN THAT CAN DO MORE THAN YOU COULD IMAGINE.

We all know the drill. Its Friday evening, we have our favorite ingredients from the supermarket from around the corner on the way home from work and you are soooo ready to make that delicious meal you have been dreaming about all week.  

There is a thunderstorm building up outside so now it’s the perfect time to have a shower get in your comfies and cozy up at home while making your favorite meal over a glass of red wine.  Just a glass of course because the doctor on TV said if you drink too much red wine you miss out on the health benefits so one should be enough.  You whip out the knives, chopping boards and you are fully in the zone.  

You pop the food in the oven while you think to yourself ‘God I have outdone myself this time, well done Me’.  Now you have moved yourself on the couch in the living room in front of the TV sipping slowly on that good red wine your mum had gotten you from the small local wine shop realizing once again how thoughtful and great your mama is.  ‘Thoughtful and great did I say?’  Snap you just remembered the rosemary you forgot to add to your meal that your mother had handpicked fresh from her garden the day before.  Oh well you think to yourself, no need to panic, it’s only a spice, I can do without it; at least we didn’t forget the salt.

That’s what most people get wrong.  What if I was to tell you that it is not just a spice? What if I tell you there is so much more about it that can change entirely the way you look at spices once and for all?

Well if you are one of those people that genuinely want to know I think you should keep reading because we all have some sort of spices in our kitchen cupboard right?  Most spices have a greater purpose than the one we usually think and we don’t give them enough credit.  

Here are the Top 5 spices that nearly everyone has in their kitchen but don’t know how much power and goodness they contain; apart from the fact that those spices make our foods extra delicious in one way or the other of course.

CINNAMON – We all have used cinnamon in our foods at least once in our lives right? Unless you love cinnamon as much as I do; You will be adding it nearly to every single food that goes through your hands as I do 🙂 When you think of cinnamon you should straight away think of blood sugar; One of earths natural and most powerful antioxidants. Cinnamon is high in minerals such as manganese, calcium, iron and magnesium hence one of its superpowers is that it can relax your muscles and reduce cramps. Great right? We all know how horrible it feels when your muscles are tensed and you can feel the cramp heading your way all day long. Worry no more, only a teaspoon of cinnamon powder a day can be enough for your body to start absorbing all the superpowers it needs to function properly; and just because you are great readers I will give you a small sneak peak of some of the most important health benefits of cinnamon 😉

Due to its powerful antioxidant components cinnamon has been linked with the reduction of heart disease risk in both women and men. Incorporating cinnamon in your diet ( as little as 1 teaspoon a day) has show to decrease LDL cholesterol while maintaining stable levels of HDL cholesterol in the body and overall have better cholesterol metabolism. Furthermore, cinnamon can reduce blood sugar levels and help maintain a more stable insulin production thus it is very beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes.

Overall all the above combined have a protective mechanism towards heart disease and heart related conditions; however we can’t exclude to mention the genetic predisposition of different conditions and disorders in our bodies.

Long Story Short – Eat more cinnamon people.. Moving on to the next..

TURMERIC – Originated from Southern India and it has been used medically for decades in countries around the world; I guess our ancestors knew better right? Just like cinnamon, turmerics active compounds are a powerful antioxidants and have anti inflammatory properties. Those compounds can play a major beneficial role in someones health in the near future and in the long run in general if ingested regularly throughout the everyday diet. One of turmerics major benefits its improvement in overall memory and brain function.

It is a month down the line, and you forgot your best-friends birthday party, which party you helped to organised in the first place; Bummer right? Well don’t sweat it, our friend turmeric is here to help you with that goldfish memory of yours *giggles*. The active compound in turmeric (Curcumin) actively can help with the increase of both brain memory and brain well being by activating neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) activity in specific brain regions. You are very kindly welcome 🙂

Onto the next..

CAYENNE PEPPER – This ones my favorite as I love spicy food. I really do!! Well listen up ladies cause this one might become your favorite too 🙂

Let’s talk weight loss, healthy weight loss to be precise.  

Cayenne pepper and in general hot chilies have this active ingredient called “capsaicin” and you can consider it mother earth’s natural fat burner.  Capsaicin is the ingredient which gives chilies their hotness and due to the heat produced in the mouth and body after consumption of this active compound the body starts burning more calories hence speeding up the metabolism process.  That’s all we want right?  This is not all of it though, Cayenne peppers powerful compound can be beneficial in lowering blood pressure, improving heart health and decreasing appetite on days that we feel like eating everything in the fridge.  Honestly, I think hot chilies and cayenne pepper (capsaicin) should be a girl’s best friend, other than diamonds of course.

Moving on to the next one..

Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you..

GARLIC – I don’t know about you but I put garlic in pretty much every meal that I cook at home.  Mr Garlic’s superpower is Detox. Garlic’s main purpose is to detoxify heavy metals in our bodies while its sulfur compounds create a protective layer that shields the organs from oxidative damage.  Furthermore, for everyone that likes their daily workouts, regular consumption of garlic can increase the exercise capacity and reduce fatigue and muscular cramps.  Also garlic is a very powerful antioxidant like all of the above spices and individuals that consume garlic regularly may benefit from lowered blood pressure and lowered cholesterol levels since the antioxidant can reduce LDL cholesterol while maintaining HDL cholesterol to its healthy levels.  Lastly and very importantly garlic can increase the strength of the immune system and its high antioxidant capacity protects the body from oxidative damage and oxidative stress related conditions and disorders.

Lastly, but clearly as important..

GINGER –  Originated from ancient China and famous about its medicinal properties due to gingerol; the main substance of ginger root. Ginger is one of the main ingredients that is used for detox due to its high levels of antioxidants and medicinal substances. Ginger has also anti nausea and morning sickness ( for those pregnant) properties and for anyone experiencing bad menstrual pain every month; ginger tea can be used to cure these type of symptoms. Furthermore, studies have shown that only 2 grams a day can be beneficial to the human body especially to the muscles as regular consumption of ginger and gingerol has shown to reduce muscle pain and cramps. Great right?

In one study done on women, ginger powder, as little as 1g shown significant reduction in pain as effectively as ibuprofen. For anyone that hates chemically modified and created medicines, Ginger is for you 🙂 you are kindly welcome. However, before I stop with the chit chat let me not forget to mention that ginger has been used to fight infections in the body and strengthen the immune system by our ancestors and their ancestors, and their ancestors and pretty much from the binning of time. Oh, and for those who’s brains are their strong point, eat your ginger because it can improve the brain function and memory since the antioxidants work as brains neurons (brain nerve cells) bodyguards against oxidative stress which is the main cause of many neurodegenerative disease.

Anyhow, long story short spices are mother earth’s little tasty miracles that can benefit our health in many ways that you can’t even imagine and of course make our meals tastier and prettier with their colors and flavors that can awaken even the lasiest tastebuds.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing down all this information for you and I really hope I have managed to change your perspective on spices if you already weren’t a spice lover as I am.

Oh and before I let you go for the day/night, don’t forget to follow TheWonderberry on Instagram as she shares a lot of her secrets and some really tasty meals on her page..

Toodles & Love,

TheWonderBerry

xoxo