5 herbs and spices and their health benefits
Over the years as people become more aware of the negative impact that highly processed foods have on one's health, more and more people have started to make smarter food choices. This means many are now going back to basics or back to nature and trading sugary and processed foods for whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices.
Source: Pexels.com
During the online press con for the launch of Sekaya Raw Actives, a curated line of powdered nutrient-dense superfoods produced by Unilab's natural products company Synnovate Pharma Corp., Dr. John La Puma, a board-certified internal medicine practitioner, professionally-trained chef, urban organic farmer, and co-founder of ChefMD and Plant With a Doc, shared the health benefits of some herbs and spices that people usually incorporate into the dishes they make.
Dr. John La Puma, co-founder of ChefMD | Source: Sekaya/Buensalido PR
Dr. La Puma started the discussion by explaining what culinary medicine is.
“Culinary medicine blends the art of cooking with the science of medicine to create restaurant quality meals that help to prevent and treat disease.”
He then made a distinction between herbs and spice and enumerated some of his favorites along with their health benefits.
According to Dr. La Puma, herbs are the leaves in a plant, while spices are everything else in it: seed, root, stem, and flower.
“The magic is that some of them you don't have to cook at all. A lot of fresh herbs and spices are just perfect out of the ground or from a leaf or from a tree.”
Rosemary leaves
Dr. La Puma also revealed that rosemary leaves inhibit the production of cancer-causing chemicals when you grill meat, which is why it is perfect to use as dry rub when you grill meat.
He also gave practical advice when it comes to using fresh and dry rub: Use what you have.
According to him, fresh rub gives you a burst of flavor, while the dry one gives you more subtle notes, almost savory notes.
Moreover, he explained that you'll need three times more when using a fresh rub, because the ratio is three to one.
Oregano
Another great herb that Dr. La Puma talked about is the oregano. He said all kinds of oregano are strongly antibacterial and the great news is almost all countries in the world have oregano.
“We grow Syrian, Mexican, and Greek oregano and I'm sure there are many more.”
Ginger
Dr. La Puma revealed that ginger has the ability to alleviate nausea and it's very accessible for Filipinos since it grows beautifully here.
“The ginger, you can crystalize, you can crush and make a tea of. You can mince it and just throw it in with the bok choy and the garlic. It needs a little bit of heat to have the flavor come up.”
Turmeric
Turmeric is also another spice that has a surprising health benefit. According to Dr. La Puma, consuming three to five grams a day is highly beneficial for those who are pre-diabetic.
“There's actually great data for turmeric preventing progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes in patients who have elevated blood sugars but don't have full-blown diabetes.
“Turmeric is better absorbed with a little bit of black pepper or the chemical piperine, which is what makes black pepper spicy. It also allows the curcumin in turmeric to be absorbed.”
Cinnamon
Finally, Dr. La Puma talked about the spice cinnamon, which is often used in baked goods such as donuts and is even added to coffee sometimes.
“It's round and spicy and makes everything sweet without adding sugar. It has been shown to lower blood sugar slightly in some people with the gene for it.”
So many health benefits to acquire from these herbs and spices, right? Make sure to add them to your cart the next time you do your groceries and try incorporating them into your food or drink.
For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.
You might also want to read about how a former vegetarian stays healthy after abandoning being a purist.