Spices and Herbal Remedies in Your Kitchen
63Ginger Root
What is in your kitchen pantry?
You probably have some herbs and spices in your pantry which can be used as culinary medicine.
Cinnamon is yummy, but are you aware that it stimulates blood circulation?
Ginger is delicious in many dishes, but it can also be taken to cure indigestion.
Cloves may remind you of the holidays, but it can also increase sexual potency. It is known as the Asian aphrodisiac. Cloves will naturally heat up the body. One drop of clove oil in hot chocolate will get things going.
Little did you know that you have your own minature pharmacy in your own home!
What is on your shelf?
Analyze your stock of remedies
Herbs can transform your life and protect you against illness, fatigue and depression. You can enhance health, beauty and longevity when you understand how herbs and spices balance the body.
You should be aware of the effect of certain herbs and spices on your body. You may be using spices that makes your symptoms worse.
According to herbalist Letha Hadady's Asian Health Secrets, most people use spices only for the taste. But the taste, temperature and energy of culinary herbs and spices can profoundly affect your well being.
An herb's effects depend upon the health of the user. If you are hot tempered and have reddish skin rashes, chronic thirst, hunger and insomnia, you should balance out your body by using cooling herbs and spices.
On the other hand, if you are tired all the time, depressed, often become sick, weak or nervous, warming herbs and spices should be used.
Following is a list of the most commonly used culinary herbs and spices.
Many cooling herbs are laxatives, blood cleansers or diuretics (eliminate toxins through the urine). Good diuretics include coriander leaf, spearmint and dandelion.
Cooling herbs and spices also reduce heat in the body by increasing sweating. They can be used to reduce inflammation, pain and fever. They can also slow metabolism and circulation.
Several cooling herbs such as dandelion, saffron and chicory cleanse the liver of toxins and acids.
Cumin, dandelion, and dill are useful for ulcers because they remove excess stomach acid.
Peppermint
Cooling Spices
- Chicory
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Dandelion
- Dill
- Fennel
- Lemon
- Lemongrass
- Licorice
- Peppermint
- Pomegranate
- Saffron
- Spearmint
Once you get a spice in your home, you have it
forever. Women never throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with
their spices. I know which one I'm taking with me when I go.
~ Erma Bombeck
Warming herbs can be used to speed metabolism, act as energy tonic or stimulant. They can raise blood pressure, increase circulation, stimulate brain, heart and adrenal glands for enhanced mental capacities and memory, and improve appetite.
Warming spices that help the kidneys or adrenal glands are cloves and parsley.
Rosemary stimulates both adrenal glands and heart.
Thyme helps strengthen the lungs.
Garlic has antibiotic qualities and is a liver stimulant.
Tumeric
Warming Spices
- Allspice
- Anise
- Basil
- Bay Leaf
- Caraway
- Cayenne
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Marjoram
- Nutmeg
- Onion
- Orange Peel
- Oregano
- Paprika
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Safflower
- Sage
- Thyme
- Tumeric
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Very interesting! The ginger photo reminded me of a girl I used to work with. She'd always have her water bottle filled with warm water and some ginger root sitting at the bottom of it, and she'd just drink that throuhout the day. Thanks for sharing this info. =)
Yeah, our kitchen is full of a lot of herbal remedies, there is just a need to recognize them and get benefited from them the purpose of which hub has done.
Interesting and informative hub. Thanks for putting it together.
Thanks y'all. Your comments are greatly appreciated. Herbs and spices are something that we take for granted considering people used to travel miles to find them. It was very interesting learning more while writing this hub about them.
Very well done hub. I like the way you grouped the herbs. Very clever.
Great hub! I love herbs and spices, but didn't realize that they could be grouped as "warming" or "cooling".
Thanks Pamela99 and Rose West for your comments. I am learning so much from this research about herbs and spices.
Thanks for all this information, elayne. I love cooking with herbs and I'm bookmarking this hub so I can get to it easy. I really enjoyed reading about the different use for herbs and alot of things that I didn't know. Thanks and keep up the good work!
Glad you stopped by Naomi. I appreciae your comments. Come back and visit any time.
Great post. I do believe in the power of herbs and spices...not to mention the taste! I have found that if I eat a meal full of flavor, I do not eat a lot...interesting, huh. Thanks again for the great information.
We can continue to learn more about herbs and spices to add quality to our life. Thanks for your comments LianaK.
I've just begun to get back to natural healing and remedies, so hubs like yours are what I've been looking for. I just went to my local Health Food Store, and purchased a lot of the herbs that you mentioned in your hub. I'll have to bookmark this one. I'll be back.
Thanks fastfreta for stopping by. Hope you find your life enhanced by spices and herbs. Make sure you check with you doctor if you take very much of it daily.
I like your quote from Erma Bombeck. I use ginger and peppermint to soothe the stomach, and I love cumin and garlic in just about any dish. Yum! :)
Garlic and cinnamon will do me fine any day. Thanks for commenting betherann.
Very interesting hub. The Chinese are fond of saying, This herb is cooling for the system and that is hot. Western medicine does not separate food like this.
God bless!
Yes, it was a new way to look at herbs for me too einron. Thanks for commenting.
Cinnamon is reported in the medical literature as helping reduce blood sugar and good for those with diabetes. Rosemary, oregano, sage and thyme are all antibiotics of some form though don't think of them as you might medically prescribed antibiotics - you can't take them three times a day and expect a raging infection to be dealt with. Herbs are good for improving your overall being and are great as part of a healthy lifestyle. Having said that I do use diluted oregano oil on fungal infections very successfully.
Appreciate your added information Herbs online. Sounds like you are very familiar with all the herbs.
Very useful, often people use medicinal herbs for cooking without even being aware of this fact! My kitchen is almost full of the spices you mentioned: I cannot cook without them! ;)
You are so right. I was guilty of that for quite some time Varenya. Pretty name BTW. Glad you enjoyed the hub and thanks for the comments.
Great hub on healing remedies that can be found in the kitchen. I love ginger for the tummy. Mother used to give us ginger tea for cramps. It really works. Great complementary videos too. I'm gonna go make a cup of ginger tea. Just for the heck off it. I love the taste!
I love ginger too. It is very effective for indigestion. I always cook with it when I make curry and stir fry. Thanks for commenting.
This article was interesting elayne001, and I'm glad I stumbled upon it. I do often have the symptoms you list as treatable with warm spices and herbs, so I'll have to stock up - ginger and cayenne are great - and see what happens. Thanks for the information.
So glad you stumbled by Mmiller_89. Here's to your health! Aloha!
What Erma Bombeck said is true, so so true!! I have so many spices, some I'm unsure what to use them for. I never saw a list of spices categorized as cooling and warming, and how they can help you medicinally. Most of the spices you listed, I do have. Thanks for the information. Now...off to the spice rack!
Glad you enjoyed the hub imatellmuva. Hope you get some real relief from your spices and that they improve your daily life. Aloha.
prasetio30 Level 8 Commenter 2 years ago
very informative hub. Thanks for showing me this information. I like something about Herbal remedies.