Integritus Prime

We recently spoke about herbs, spices and roots in our Beyond Medicine: Lifestyle Angels series. As cooks, we love these in our recipes because they add so much flavor without any fat, salt, sugar, or chemicals, compared to artificial flavors and preservatives in processed condiments like ketchup, soy sauce, and other sauces.

Let’s look at the benefits of some of our favorite herbs, spices and roots:

• Mint leaves – this is a refreshing and delicious herb that we grow organically in our garden. We add this to chutneys, our biryani, and teas. It’s soothing for the stomach and the nerves too. Aromatherapy to boot!
• Cilantro/Coriander leaves – this is a favorite of ours, also in the garden. We use it for garnishing most of our curries, as well as in soups, pasta sauces, and chutneys. Cilantro can detox your body, so it’s an important cleansing agent.
• Rosemary leaves – touted for its memory-boosting powers, this is a potent herb. We add it to our vegan omlettes, pasta dishes, and roasts.
• Oregano leaves – an antibiotic when in oil tincture form, this is another potent herb. We use it for a variety of dishes, including pasta and soups.
• Cinnamon sticks (bark) – known for its sugar control properties, we love the flavor and aroma too. We use it in our muffins, cakes, pies and Indian desserts.
• Cumin seeds or powder – has anti-cancer properties, helps in treatment of diarrhea and blood sugar control in diabetes. We use the seeds in our curries and the ground version in soups, sauces, pasta and other dishes.
• Cardamom seeds – one of our favorites, we use this in our biryani and palau, as well as in desserts.
• Ginger root – a powerful source of heat and healing, we crush or grate ginger for our fresh ginger-turmeric tea and use it in our cooking, and for making some desserts too.
• Turmeric powder or root – we use the fresh root for cooking and tea. A powerful immune booster, turmeric is also touted as an anti-cancer champion.
• Garlic cloves – another heat-giving agent, garlic provides a ton of flavor to any meal, while also protecting the immune system.
• Nutmeg powder or whole – another favorite, a small hunk of this tasty spice can be placed in the mouth to stop the worst of coughs. We also use it for desserts. Yum!

Herbs and spices are naturally occurring substances that add flavor to foods and have additional benefits of being antioxidants and providing fiber. A much better choice for flavoring foods than commercially prepared flavorings which have added chemicals, salt and sugars.

There are so many other stars we haven’t even touched on, like basil, parsley, fenugreek, cloves, and so on. What are your favorite herbs, spices and roots and how do you use them? Share with us at transmute@alchemusprime.com