Spices and their benefits

Very often I get this question – What is this spice useful for? Being Indian we do use a lot of different kind of spices for taste and health benifits but most of the times I used to remember the taste and not the other reasons I would use them. Hence I have come up with a list of spices and their benifits so that if you like then you can try them and change the quality and taste of the food.

Enjoy a spicy day my friends 🙂

Black pepper	Improve Digestion and Promote Intestinal Health
Basil	DNA Protection Plus Anti-Bacterial Properties
Tumeric	It helps deal with skin problems. Turmeric powder can be used for healing cuts and wounds. It also makes coping with diabetes easier.
Chile Pepper	Fight Inflammation, Natural Pain Relief, Cardiovascular Benefits, Clear Congestion, Boost Immunity, Help Stop the Spread of Prostate Cancer, Prevent Stomach Ulcers, Lose Weight, Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Cayenne Pepper	Fight Inflammation, Natural Pain Relief, Cardiovascular Benefits, Clear Congestion, Boost Immunity, Help Stop the Spread of Prostate Cancer, Prevent Stomach Ulcers, Lose Weight, Lower Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Asafoetida (Hing)	Remedy for whooping cough and stomach ache caused due to gas.
Bay leaf (Tez Patta)	Bay leaf oil possesses antifungal and anti bacterial
Cardamom (Elaichi)	Helps to control bad breath and digestive disorder. A whole cardamom chewed is good for coping with diabetes.
Chilli (Lal Mirch)	The antioxidants present in chilli help to cope with cholesterol. It also helps burning calories
Cinnamon (Dalchini)	It supports natural production of insulin and reduces blood cholesterol, the highest anti-oxidant strength of all the food sources in nature
Clove (Laung)	Clove oil is beneficial for coping with tooth ache and sore gums. It is also beneficial remedy for chest pains, fever, digestive problems, cough and cold.
Coriander (Dhaniya)	It can be used externally on aching joints and rheumatism. It is also good for coping with soar throat, allergies, digestion problems, hay fever etc
Cumin (Zeera)	It is a good source or iron and keeps immune system healthy. Water boiled with cumin seeds is good for coping with dysentery.
Curry leaves(Curry Patta)	These leaves are beneficial for reducing blood sugar. Each part of the plant provides some benefit or the other. The dried leaves are extensively used in herbal medicines.
Fenugreek (Methi)	Fenugreek seed tea or sweet fudge is good for increasing breast milk. It also helpful for treating diabetes and lowering cholesterol
Garlic (Lassan)	It is useful for coping with cough and cold. It also has antibiotic properties.
Ginger (Adrak)	Helps to avoid digestive problems. It is beneficial for coping with cough and cold.
Mustard (Rye)	Mustard oil is good for body massage and even for getting good hair. It consists of omega-3 fatty acids. It is an excellent source of iron, zinc, manganese, calcium, protein etc.
Nutmeg (Jaiphal)	It is beneficial for the treatments of asthma, heart disorder and bad breath.
Pepper (Kaali Mirch)	It helps coping with cold, cough, infections etc. It helps to deal with muscle pains and digestive problems
Saffron (Zaffran/Kesar)	It helps to cope with skin diseases. It is a good remedy for cough, cold and asthma.
Star anise (Chakra Phool)	Star anise oil is beneficial for rheumatism. It is helpful for digestion and avoiding bad breath
Nutmeg	anti-oxidant, disease preventing, and health promoting properties, vital B-complex vitamins, including vitamin C, folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin A and many flavonoid anti-oxidants like beta-carotene and cryptoxanthin
Mustard seeds	rich in phyto-nutrients, minerals, vitamins and anti-oxidants, B-complex vitamins, niacin (vitamin B-3), vitamin E, gamma tocopherol, minerals. Calcium, manganese, copper, iron, selenium and zinc