Add some SPICE to your life

Prompted by my visit to the intriguing Spice Market in Istanbul, I started to research the true health value of spices. In the realm of boastful claims, spices are right up there with other supplements you see on the shelves of health food stores. It always comes down to the same question – what should I believe? We can’t each do our own research on the benefits, so I’ll share with you my ‘go to’ sources. I rely on the NIH site for comprehensive and alternative medicine (www.nccam.nih.gov) and scientific literature available on PubMed (www.ncbl.nlm.nih.gov). I cross-referenced this info with a very well written book, Healing Spices – How to Use 50 Everyday and Exotic Spices to Boost Health and Beat Disease by Bharat Aggarwal, PhD with Debora Yost. Dr. Aggarwal is a professor of cancer research, biochemistry, immunology and experimental therapeutics at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and has published more than 500 scientific papers.

Overall, the data are consistent, so I am comfortable relying on it. To borrow a term from economics, I hope to create a trickle-down effect. Many people all over the world are doing research about the healthy effects of spices, complementing our knowledge from their uses in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic (indian) medicine for centuries. Dr. Aggarwal compiled much of this data, I read and summarized it, and pass it along to you, with recipes and editorial comments included, and hope that you, in turn, use the info to share healthy tasty meals with your friends and family. I’ll choose just a handful of spices for this article, so as not to just give you a laundry list or a collection of mind-boggling data.

These spices are fun to cook with to create new taste sensations. You can adjust them to your own taste preference, and become an international chef instantly by just changing the spices in the rub or marinade that you use. Focus on cumin, coriander and turmeric and you’re cooking Indian style; star anise, cloves and cinnamon and it’s Chinese; garlic, basil and parsley added to onions and tomatoes and it’s Italian.  If you see an interesting recipe for a spice rub, don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients. Just line them all up on your kitchen counter, put down a piece of paper towel to catch the overflow (makes cleanup quick), and you can mix up the rub in a few minutes. If a recipe calls for whole peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, etc, I use an old coffee grinder as my spice grinder, and it works well.

Let’s start with star anise because of its unique appearance – an eight-pointed star of narrow pods, each one with a seed inside. It is from the fruit of an evergreen tree native to China and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for years to treat respiratory infections, arthritis and abdominal bloating. Most importantly, shikimic acid, which is abundant in the spice, is the starter ingredient for the flu medication Tamiflu. It may also be active against other viruses, such as Epstein-Barr, which causes mono and herpes simplex 1 which causes cold sores. Star anise has a sweet licorice flavor, and Its presence is evident in Vietnamese soup phô (pronounced ‘fuh’). Now when I want to help treat friends or family who have the flu, I actually bring them phô instead of classic Jewish chicken soup. The easiest way to use it at home is in Chinese five spice powder which is available at most supermarkets. The other 4 ingredients are cinnamon, cloves, anise and ginger. The whole stars can be used in soups or casseroles, but are not edible and should be removed after cooking. There was a scare several years ago because Japanese star anise, with 10 or more points instead of 8, is toxic and had tainted a supply of star anise, but the supply is fine now.

Next, let’s look at turmeric. It is felt to be the spice with “the most promise for better health” by those in the know. Its active ingredient is curcumin, which is a strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. You hear a lot about how various foods, vitamins, oils and supplements are anti-oxidants. In metals, oxidation causes rust. In our bodies, oxidation refers to the activity of reactive oxygen species that may be caused by aging or various stressors. The inflammation these oxidants cause can eventually contribute to heart attacks, stroke, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Regarding cancer, turmeric has been shown to interfere with formation of colon polyps that may precede cancer, inhibit mutations that develop into cancer, inhibit the spread of cancer cells, limit the increase in blood vessels to the tumor, and improve the action of chemo and radiation. Many of the studies are in animals, but some of the human studies have covered colon polyp and lung cancer development, as well as an addition to other breast cancer treatment. As an anti-inflammatory, it may be more effective than aspirin or ibuprofen.

Recently, there has been concern about grilling meats because of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that form at high temperatures. There is concern that these can lead to cancer; using turmeric with the foods may reduce their harmful effects. Turmeric and black pepper sprinkled on your food together is evidently a potent protective combination. The latest news about turmeric is that it may slow the decline in memory and brain function; whereas Alzheimers incidence has doubled in our country and seems to be common, it affects less than one percent of the population in India, where turmeric is used in abundance. It is good for the skin and there is even a recipe in the book for a mask made of chickpea flour, turmeric, oil and water that can help reduce wrinkles; I’d be reluctant to try it because my skin is so pale and turmeric is known to leave a yellow tint on kitchen counters if not cleaned up quickly. Dr. Aggarwal recommends using 1 teaspoon a day on foods (best absorbed with oil or dairy) as well as a 500mg curcurmin supplement. Uncooked, it may taste bitter.

Let’s look at a more common spice – cinnamon. Well known even earlier than the other spices, its use was mentioned in the Old Testament. It is harvested from dried bark and rolled into scrolls; it retains its scent much better when sold whole rather than when ground. The main benefit that has been promoted in the popular press has been control of diabetes. There has been some conflicting data, but in adult onset, non-insulin dependent diabetics, a dose of cinnamon of 1/4 – 1 teaspoon a day can lower the blood sugar and ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. Even in healthy people, sprinkling cinnamon on a dessert might help limit the rise in blood sugar, possibly by mimicking the action of insulin and helping sugar enter cells. In addition to use for diabetes, it has also been used for respiratory symptoms, stomach upset and muscle spasms. It may be familiar to some of you from Tiger Balm used for pain relief or cinnamon gum, which by the way, may help concentration.
Cinnamon is used in many dishes – Moroccan stews, Mexican moles (cocoa and cinnamon based), Chinese five spice powder, Indian garam masala, on fruits, in hot cocoa and of course baked into apple desserts. The list is endless. One enticing recipe in the book – Chinese ‘red cooking’ will be described below.

Finally, just a brief mention of mint, which covers about 600 varieties. Peppermint is the sweet mint and spearmint, the one that’s usually in the jar, is more savory. Peppermint, with which we are familiar from toothpastes and mouthwash is rich in menthol – which stimulates coldness receptors in the mucous membranes or the skin. Interestingly, inhaling it decreases cough, which along with its cool taste may account for why menthol cigarettes were so popular. It is also felt to decrease pain and irritable bowel symptoms. However, by relaxing the muscles, it may make reflux worse, so be cautious. It may decrease facial hair growth in women with polycystic ovary syndrome, by decreasing high testosterone levels.

In upcoming entries, I’ll be talking about cardamom and ginger, two favorite spices of mine, as well as combinations of tomatoes, garlic and onions, a super anti-oxidant mixture.

So now – the important part – some recipes to incorporate these spices, and others, into your diet.

If you’d like to be notified when new posts are added by any of our authors, be sure to sign up on our Home page. I’d especially be delighted to get feedback about the recipes. Enjoy!

RECIPES:

Asian Salmon Steaks
From Washington Post – Women’s League Cyber Kitchen

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce, lo sodium
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp five-spice powder
2 tsp honey
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
4 5-6 oz salmon steaks or salmon fillets, washed and dried;

Directions:

Preheat broiler.
Place all ingredients except salmon in a bowl. Mix well.
Brush salmon with glaze mixture and broil for 3-4 minutes on each side (no turning needed if
using fillets), basting with any remaining glaze until fish is golden and cooked through.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

NOTE: It is healthier to avoid charring animal products, so I prefer to cook fish and other animal
products at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cut.

Moroccan-Spiced Roasted Vegetables
From epicurious.com
These are DELICIOUS – especially the shallots – which are stronger anti-oxidants than other onions!
Serves 12

Ingredients:
2 lbs shallots, halved or quartered
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ¾ inch cubes
4 large red bell peppers, cut into ½- thick strips
2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1 Tbsp coarse salt
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsps ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ stick unsalted butter, cut into bits – can use 1 Tbsp instead.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Toss shallots with 1 Tbsp oil and roast in a shallow baking pan in lower third of oven 25 minutes.

Toss together squash, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, salt, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and remaining 3 Tbsp oil.

Add roasted shallots and divide between 2 large shallow baking pans.

Dot vegetables in each pan with ½ of butter and roast in upper and lower thirds of oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through roasting, until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes total.

Spice mixes can be prepared in advance and saved for a quick meal, or you can use Chinese Five Spice powder, right off the shelf. Simply defrost chicken the night before or use tofu. Brush with olive oil. If you think ahead, you can marinate or rub the spice in early in the day, but otherwise you can do it quickly when you get home. While you bake the chicken or tofu , prepare couscous or quinoa by just boiling up water or low salt vegetable broth, and steam some veggies. I pride myself on being able to have a healthy dinner on the table within 30 minutes of walking in the door – or 5 minutes if I have leftovers – another one of my specialties ;-). If you bake a few days worth of chicken with five spice powder, you can make quick dinners by cutting it up on salads, or steaming some vegetables to go with it. I cut the boneless breasts horizontally in 2, so they look just as large, but are not as thick, then bake at 350 for about 20 minutes – check to make sure they’re cooked through. This is a good way to decrease portion size, if that’s your goal.

Recipe for ‘red cooking’ from Healing Spices:
I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m intrigued by it – looks delicious.
Simmer cinnamon, star anise and orange zest in water, rice wine and soy sauce.
Cook a chicken, breast side down, in the liquid until it is red and cooked through.