Healthy Herbs Help Spice up Your Life!
by Janna de Leon
(Manila, Philippines)
Healthy herbs & spices are a great addition to any recipe
Getting Older means that our skin starts to wrinkle, our metabolism becomes slower and for some, fitness goes straight out the window. We can’t be young forever, but certainly most people would prefer to be young and healthy for as long as they can!.
However, no matter how hard you try to be fit and healthy, there is usually no escaping that annual office Christmas bash, the Christmas dinner with friends or the dozens of parties with long-table buffets that you absolutely have no intention of missing.
How do manage to eat better during the Christmas season, when most things on offer are junk & destroy all your best laid plans for a healthy lifestyle?.
Fortunately, Mother Nature has a way.
Did you know that choosing spice-loaded food from the buffet table actually helps combat the aging process?. Adding spices to your food is actually the easiest way of making your food healthier.
Aside from improving the flavor and color of dishes, Herbs and Spices also contain Nutrients ,vitamins, Antioxidants and medicinal properties.
Spices and herbs help maximize the density of nutrients in food. So whenever a poor-calorie content dish is spiced up, it instantly becomes a better choice.
So during the next party, ignore the usual fried chicken strips and choose the Chicken Satay stick instead.
Herbs and spices are also thermogenic, which means that they help speed up your metabolism naturally. If your metabolism is faster, your body will be able to burn the calories you have already consumed at a quicker rate, resulting in less storage of fat in the body.
So if you like drinking coffee or tea after a heavy meal, ideally drink Green Tea ,or if not a normal tea but sprinkle some cinnamon over it to speed up your metabolism.
If you try to eliminate salt from your Cooking and use herbs and spices instead, then your salty food cravings will decrease. The intake of salt results in a bloated feeling, water retention and possibly even hypertension and kidney stones.
As a useful guide, the following herbs and spices have these corresponding benefits:
• Basil and Rosemary have anti-inflammatory properties
• Cumin and Sage help fight dementia
• Cayenne Pepper and Cinnamon help fight obesity
• Coriander and Cinnamon help neutralize your blood sugar levels
• Turmeric helps your body fight cancer
• Garlic, Chicory, Chillies and Mustard seed help improve blood circulation
• Basil and Thyme for healthy-looking skin
• Turmeric, Cinnamon, Basil, Thyme, Ginger and Saffron to boost your immune system.
Eating smart by adding herbs & spices not only helps Anti Aging, it also peps up the dullest of meals!.
