Spice Up Your Life
Last week I suggested that you use a little bit of thyme in your cooking. You did do the homework, right?
Now … why? It is certain that there are aspects of fruits, vegetables, and other fresh nutritious foods that seem to elicit a surfeit of health benefits. However, in his New York Times Bestseller, “In Defense of Food”, Michael Pollan points out that when we start looking for certain nutrients instead of eating whole foods –such as when we focus on specific anti-oxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, or beta-carotene— we seem to drop the ball. For example, there have been studies finding that ingesting isolated beta-carotene as a supplement actually increased the risk of certain cancers in some individuals. In the late 1800s, Justus von Liebig concocted the first baby formula consisting of cow’s milk, wheat flour, malted flour, and potassium bicarbonate. This formula appeared to have sufficient quantities of all the then-known “essential nutrients” of that day: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and a few basic elements. However, when infants fed exclusively on this formula, they failed to thrive.
Later we’d discover “new” essential nutrients: vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and amino acids, that weren’t included in this original formula. Is it possible that there are nutrients in foods that we don’t know about today [such as there were in the late 19th century] that might be lost when we stop eating read foods and start eating food products?
Ohh, yea! We were talking about thyme weren’t we? Here is a list of antioxidants that have been identified in a leaf of garden-variety thyme:
“Alanine, anethole essential oil, apigenin, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene, caffeic acid, camphene, carvacrol, chlorogenic acid, chrysoeriol, derulic acid, eriodictyol, eugenol, 4-terpinol, gallic acid, gamma-terpinene, isichlorogenic acid, isoeugenol, isothyomonin, kaemferol, labiatic acid, lauric acid, linalyl acetate, luteolin, methionine, myrcene, myristic acid, naringenin, rosmarinic acid, selenium, tannin, thymol, trytophan, ursolic acid, vanillic acid.”*
Now, I can only recognize 5 to 10 of those. Unfortunately, science hasn’t yet been afforded the time or funding to study many of these extensively and see what health benefits they might offer. Shoot! For all we know, some of these antioxidants may turn out to have negative effects. Then again, people have been eating thyme forever. It’s pretty reasonable to assume that thyme won’t do us any harm. In contrast, there are many who suggest that some of these other lesser-known nutrients, or perhaps the way they react with other nutrients in the intact food, may be the key to the protective benefits of fruits and vegetables. The protection that we do not always see when individuals are given beta-carotene, or any other one ingredient in isolation. Protection that may be lost as our diets become more and more bland.
How many of you have a multi-level spice rack at home with more than a dozen spices – half of them unopened and not understood? What do we use sage for anyway? Your grandmother probably knew. Worse than those with the novelty spice rack would be individuals [such as my college roomates] whose cupboards, upon inspection, contain salt, pepper, and maybe some Lawry’s© or hot sauce for an occasional “zing”. Fail!
Let’s add the spice back in our lives! Thyme is not the only herb with a slew on known and unknown nutrients. Basil, marjoram, cinnamon, and all the usual suspects each contain their own array. As do the dark horses of the spice cabinet. Have you used fennel seed, cardamom pod, cumin, or turmeric lately?
In addition to high levels of un-pronounceable anti-oxidants and phytonutrients, herbs and spices can add flavor and variety to our meal planning. Variety that can make the “same old” not so “same old” anymore. Best yet, herbs and spices are naturally sodium free and largely calorie free. I challenge you to utilize each of the herbs and spices in your arsenal this summer. Choose one each week and look it up. Read about its background and its uses. Find some recipes that utilize it. Or, if you’re lazy … just cook up some meat or some vegetables and sprinkle some on. See if it tastes good.
For some tips and guidance on how to get started, please view the attachments below courtesy of the University of Nebraska on cooking with herbs and spices.
Powerpoint: Add a Little SPICE (& HERBS) in Your Life!
PDF 1: Add a Little SPICE (& HERBS) in Your Life!
PDF 2: Healthy Cooking with Fresh Herbs
*In Defense Of Food. Michael Pollan. 2008
Posted 19 July 2009
