Cooking with Spices

Do you like spicy food, full of flavor? Well, there may be benefits from eating those spicy dishes, other than just great taste, that you may not have known. Garlic, peppers, onions, cayenne and other zesty spices and seasoning items actually have health benefits too. Let’s look at some of these popular spices and seasonings and see exactly what benefits they offer our health.

Garlic

We all know that properties of garlic, right? Of course, it keeps the vampires away!

But in all seriousness, garlic has natural antioxidant properties that have been shown to help keep colds, flu, and certain other pesky viruses. Natural garlic may also show some benefit in helping to clear up acne, as well as assisting in maintaining healthy cholesterol levels.

The down side to garlic is the overwhelming power of its smell, causing bad breath, yet ironically, garlic capsules have been found to actually assist with bad breath.

Onions

Any serious vegetarian will tell you that onions are one of natures most healthy creations. In addition, onions come in a variety of flavors and styles, as well as colors and shapes.

Onions have been shown to repel many insects, as well as possibly repelling colds, coughs, respiratory ailments, and might even have a beneficial effect on asthma. Much like garlic, onions contain certain sulfides, which may assist with lowering cholesterol levels.

Onions have also shown significant benefit in halting tumor growth in certain types of cancer, and seem to be especially beneficial to stomach cancer patients.

Cayenne Pepper

A very small amount (around 2 tsp.) of cayenne contains as much as 30% of the RDA of vitamin A. In addition, cayenne also contains vitamin C, manganese, fiber, vitamin K, and vitamin B6.

One ingredient in the make up of cayenne is capsaicin, also known as 8-methyul-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide. Capsaicin has been researched and studied extensively, and appears to provide mild pain reducing benefits, along with certain cardiovascular benefits, and might actually help prevent ulcers.