Spices can ease the guilt after eating like a hog over the holidays
BY SUZY COHEN Dear Pharmacist
Saturday, January 05, 2013
1/31/13 at 3:11 PM
Dear Pharmacist, I ate like a hog
over the holiday, and it was wonderful!
To spare my guilt, are there any
benefits to holiday foods and spices?
— D.E. Orlando, Fla.
Don’t worry, we all shamed
ourselves! Your saving grace is
that all those delicious spices
have numerous medicinal benefits,
and I’d keep sprinkling and
cooking with them all year long.
Nutmeg can ease indigestion,
great, since you ate two sweet
potato pies in one sitting! Nutmeg
kills bacteria that causes
bad breath, woo hoo! By killing
off some nasty intestinal bacteria,
there may be less flatulence.
It causes some people
to get sleepy, so sprinkle some
into a warm cup of almond
milk before bed!
Ginger may help prevent colon
and ovarian cancer. It seems
to help with morning sickness,
motion sickness, chronic
fatigue, asthma, erectile dysfunction,
heartburn, menstrual
cramps, and even the common
cold. Ginger is most famous for
it’s anti-nausea effect, as well as
it’s ability to ease arthritis over
time because it’s a potent antiinflammatory.
Cinnamon may improve cholesterol
ratios, and in particular,
lower LDL cholesterol and help
stabilize blood sugar (great for
type 2 diabetes). When you balance
blood sugar, you control
appetite so of course this translates
to possible weight loss,
so long as the rest of your diet
is the color of a rainbow. Your
brain loves cinnamon as much
as your taste buds meaning
your memory and brain function
could improve. Cinnamon,
like nutmeg, has anti-fungal
and anti-bacterial properties.
Cloves may very well be the
strongest antioxidant known to
man. In high enough quantities,
compounds in cloves reduce
iron. This is good if you have
hemochromatosis. Cloves may
help with diarrhea, intestinal
parasites, thyroid problems,
infections and lymphoma.
Essential oil of clove oil may
relieve pain, if you apply it to a
toothache.
Maple syrup, my favorite, is a
great substitute for sugar and
it’s just natural tree sap. It
has 54 different antioxidants,
including a powerful one called
“quebecol” named for where it
was discovered.
info@dearpharmacist.com
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