Healthiest Spices | What are the Healthiest Spices?
Like fruits and vegetables, many of the healthiest spices are rich in antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and antibacterial compounds.
Used regularly, herbs and spices may help your health in many ways. Including reduced inflammation, fighting free radicals, aid digestion and circulation, lower blood sugar, boost your immune system, and much more.
Healthiest Spices List
Here is a list of perhaps the healthiest spices, what they pair well with, and how they help…
In no particular order,
CLOVES
Cloves tops our healthiest spices list with respect to it’s ORAC value. I wrote about ORAC (potential attributes) in the following article:
Top 100 High ORAC Value Berries | Spices | Herbs
Cloves pair well with: Drinks and in both sweet and savory dishes.
May help: One of the highest levels of antioxidants; relieve bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, nausea and diarrhea; tooth and gum pains.
CINNAMON
A Top-5 ORAC value spice.
Pairs well with: Cloves; nutmeg; allspice; chocolate; fruit; nuts; hot cereal
May help: Stabilize blood sugar, reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
OREGANO
Top-5 ORAC value.
Pairs well with: Egg and cheese dishes; beef, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes.
May help: Guard you against a wide array of infections; inhibit E. coli and some staph infections.
TURMERIC
Another Top-5 ORAC value spice!
Pairs well with: Garlic; citrus; ingredients in curry powder, such as coriander & cumin
May help: Quell inflammation, inhibit tumors.
SAGE
Pairs well with: Squashes; parsley; rosemary; thyme; walnuts
May help: Preserve memory, soothe sore throats.
ROSEMARY
Pairs well with: Potatoes; citrus; honey; garlic; onions; chile peppers
May help: Enhance mental focus, fight foodborne bacteria.
CHILE PEPPER
Pairs well with: Ginger; chocolate; beans; beef
May help: Boost metabolism.
GINGER
Pairs well with: Soy sauce; citrus; chile peppers; garlic
May help: Soothe an upset stomach, fight arthritis pain.
SAFFRON
Pairs well with: Shellfish, rice, tomatoes, garlic, onion
May help: Boost your mood, relieve symptoms of PMS.
PARSLEY
Pairs well with: lemon zest, mint, garlic, capers, fish, beef
May help: Prevent cancer.
GARLIC
Pairs well with: Spread roasted garlic on crusty bread, sautee it and add to sauces, and use raw in hummus and salad dressing.
May help: fighting illness, ‘poor man’s antibiotic’, help prevent cardiovascular disease, protecting against gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer.
THYME
Pairs well with: Flavor stews and soups. It works well in Caribbean dishes like jerk chicken and in Creole dishes such as blackened fish.
May help: Increase the amount of omega-3 (good) fatty acids present in kidney and brain cells, excellent antioxidant and rich in antibacterial and antispasmodic properties.
CAYENNE PEPPER
Pairs well with: Add a pinch of powdered cayenne to paella, Thai and Mexican dishes, or any dish that needs a kick.
May help: Boosts circulation, fights infections, aids digestion, boost metabolism.
CILANTRO
Pairs well with: Add fresh cilantro to salsa, guacamole, fish or chicken marinades, and Indian and Chinese soups.
May help: Remove toxic metals such as mercury from the body.
BASIL
Pairs well with: In chicken dishes, pastas, pesto, and tomato-and-cheese sandwiches.
May help: Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties; contains a wealth of nutrients including beta-carotene and magnesium.
CURRY POWDER, CURCUMIN
Pairs well with: Add to curry dishes, to egg or chicken salad, or savory lentil or rice recipes.
May help: Very potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent; activates cellular defense mechanisms in genes.
PAPRIKA
Pairs well with: Wide variety including sauces, egg garnish, chicken, Mexican, Mediterranean and Cajun spice blends.
May help: Contribute toward cardiovascular health, as well as cancer prevention; Contains flavonoids that help to neutralize damaging free radicals; Reduce chronic pain and inflammation associated with arthritis.
Healthiest Spices | What’s Your Opinion?
Anything to add to this list? Or recommendations, cautions, or otherwise?
Note: This is not medical advice. It’s just a list of what many believe to be some of the healthiest spices. Whether or not they actually perform is up to debate. Though much of it has been widely ascertained.
