The spices of life

In recent studies, spices have proven to have an impact on the brain's mechanism for regulating appetite. It's in the brain's satiety center that sends out signals that you are full or you are hungry.

One aspect of spices can impact your feeling full is the spice's aroma. Aroma is a crucial factor in stimulating the satiety center sending out 'full' signals. The more aromatic the food, the stronger the signal the brain sends out to stop eating. Bland, easy-to-eat starches and carbohydrates like bread or pasta don't trigger these stimulates as easily.

Spices add flavor, flavor may replace flavor provided by fat and sugar. Fat as well as sugar adds flavor to dishes, chef's in restaurant are known for their heavy handed use of butter and cream because of this. It's not the chef's arteries getting hardened.

Spice makes your food taste better, you feel fuller sooner and you'll probably eat less fat and fewer sugars.

Spices have been shown to disinfect harmful bacteria and destroy food-borne microorganisms that would otherwise cause food poisoning.

In India, where spices are ubiquitous, spices play a vital nutritional role. Spices are packed with trace elements -micro nutrients that, though present only in minute quantities, are nevertheless essential to health. Even in the poorest parts of India, spices bring balance and variety to a diet that would be otherwise deficient.

Cinnamon for example is laden with proanthocyanidins which are powerful antioxidants that help protect against the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries.

Other benefits of select seasonings include:

• Reducing the amount of fat we absorb: ginger, garlic, fenugreek


• Increasing metabolic rate, burning fat faster: chili


• Slowing the growth of amyloid plaques in the brain, the small knots responsible for Alzheimer's disease (a disease practically unknown in turmeric-addicted India)*: turmeric


• Killing ovarian cancer cells**: ginger


• Helping with ailments such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression and multiple sclerosis: ginger, pepper, cumin, cinnamon

*Study by the University of California, Los Angeles
**Study by the University of Michigan
Source: The Spice of Life article in Bon Appetit 3/09 issue

The spices of life

Clinical studies show that spices have health benefits.

"The anti-inflammatory abilities of turmeric, cinnamon, ginger and cayenne are remarkable," says Bharat B. Aggarwal, Ph.D., professor in the department of experimental therapeutics at the M.D. Anderson Center Center in Houston.

Inflammmation is thought to be common to a slew of chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes,allergies and heart disease.

Spices may be a key ingredient in helping cultures be healthier. For example, lung, prostate, breast and colon cancers are more than 50x lower in India than in the U.S.

Here's a guide to what's considered the healthiest spices you can enjoy:

Tumeric
taste: bitter and sweet
benefits: Phytonutrient in tumeric may interfere with tumor growth. A 2009 Chinese study suggests it can inhibit the metastaszing of melanoma cells. A recent University of California, LA study indicates that tumeric may ehlp the immune system clear the brain of amyloid beta which forms the plaques found in Alzheimer's.
cook: Turmeric pairs well with white meats, potatoes, rice, mustard and spices like coriander, cumin and ginger. And you can't make a curry without this essential ingredient.

Cayenne pepper
tastes: warm, spicy with a zingy bite
benefits: Cayenne pepper has capsaicin, a phytochemical that has been linked to weight loss, pain relief and cardiovascular health. A 2009 Danish study found that capsaicin creates a full feeling helpful when losing weight. Studies have indicated that capsaicin has an analgesic effect becasue it blocks a protein critical to the transmission of pain signals in the body.
cook: A little goes a long way. The longer it's cooked the heat just increases. Add a pinch near the end of cooking fish or tomato-based dishes, soups and stews.

Cinnamon
tastes: warm, sweet with a hint of smokiness
benefits: Helps lower blood glucose and LDL ("bad") cholesterol. A 2009 study links it to lower levels of hemoglobin A1c in patients with type II diabetes. Hemoglobin levels are indicators of long-term blood-glucose control. 1/2 teaspoon a day is considered a good dose.
cook: add early in the cooking process to allow its flavor to blend.

Ginger
tastes: warm, piquant
benefits: A popular medicine across history, known for its ability to soothe indigestion, and ease motion sickness. Recent Japanese animal studies show it may help prevent colon and lung cancer.
cook: Ginger pairs well with honey, lemon, lime, scallions, soy sauce, carrots and fish.

Cumin
tastes: bitter, pungent and slightly sweet
benefits: Said to help in the treatment of the common cold.
cook: Add early in the cooking process to mellow its strong flavor, add to meats, beans, lentils, rice, and potatoes.

Source: naturalhealthmag.com 2/10

2010 Top Flavor Pairings

McCormick - of herb and spices fame - has forecasted the 2010 top flavor pairings.

1. Roasted ginger and rhubarb - "Layering spicy and sour with a powerful tang." I've only had rhubard in pies and quite honestly never thought rhubarb worth the pastry surrounding it. However in my new mode of finding a way to love every fruit and vegetable, I am going to try it. If you have a recipe send it along.
   
2. Thai basil and watermelon - "A colorful study in contrasts with a sweet, refreshing balance." I used to love salt on my watermelon, what a disgrace. No longer bringing the salt shaker to the watermelon feasts, I'm eager to try basil in the upcoming summer months.
   
3. Caraway and bitter greens - "An unmistakable spice tames the bitter bit of bold greens." Unfortunately I'm not sure what they mean by bitter greens, last night I did try some caraway with some collard greens and liked it.


4. Bay leaves and preserved lemon - "Slowly coaxed flavor - worth the wait - an aromatic mix of bitter, salty-tart and bright." Not sure what to make of this, then I remembered it's McCormick making the forecast and I have a feeling they've got a brand-new spice on your grocery store's spice aisle called preserved lemon. That said, I do want to dust off my bay leaves jar and try, what I consider my mother's spice, on something. Not a lemon person, I'm going to try it with something lime.


5. Almond and Ale - "The bittersweet character of both ingredients makes a "congenial, cozy and hearty match." If I'm drinking beer (ale to the McCormick people), I'm not adding almond to it. Beer is reserved it for those hot summer days when I've been working out in the yard, and I'm just showered and find myself resting on my patio looking at my just completed work.


6. Turmeric and vine-ripened tomatoes - "Eathy and naturally sweet, this colorful, healthful blend is always in season" Gotta love the marketing jibe. 'Vine-ripened' to me means locally picked and even in Florida tomatoes aren't grown year-round (summer's too hot for them). Anyway, this is a nice combo as my Florida tomatoes proved last night.


7. Pumpkin pie spice and coconut milk - "This lush, warm pairing reconnects with its tropical roots" The McCormick marketing person should watch her words. I get this because I know calabaza, a tropical pumpkin, and can see coconut milk and a 'pumpkin' spice can do the aforementioned reconnection with the tropics.


8. Roasted Cumin and Chickpeas - "This globetrotting Mediterranean duet delivers warm, eathy flavor harmonies."


9. Chives and fish sauce - "Savory fusion of French and Asian cuisines."

Source: The Shelby Report 2/10