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cooking spices, herbs
I've been looking at historical usages of culinary herbs and spice. I think they may be helpful to speeding healing and maintaining health, especially GUT health. And gut health is important to our absorption of nutrients, without which we cannot heal. What's more, I think our use of them has changed since our particular ancestor's days. Herbs and spices of your particular ancestors might be something to ponder. And it might be different than you think!
I suppose the other side of this coin is that it doesn't sound like Grant used much.
Hmm.. Like many things, this may be individual and your tastebuds might be the best guide.
The IU's given below for VA are from the nutritiondata.self.com
Herbs are the leaves of the plant, while spices come from the roots, bark, and seeds. Essentially, any part of the plant that is not a leaf and can be used for seasoning would fall into the spice category. Some plants have both: like cilantro (the leaves) and coriander (the seeds of the cilantro plant).
I personally lean pretty hard toward HERBS but research has shown me that SPICES were highly prized in the past, and that people went to great lengths and expense to get SPICES. (even though herbs can often be grown at home)
And example of this is the fact that SALT (which to me is the ultimate food enhancer) is married to PEPPER! (a spice, not an herb). I've heard, but don't know if it is true, that black pepper is helpful against toxoplasmosis. I'm thinking toxo has always been with us, since mice and cats have such a big place on the homestead.
Black pepper, 6.0 IU per teaspoon (but who would eat that much?)
kitchen pepper (18th century spice blend) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEu6z3L34v8 (salt, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves) (apparently pretty low in VA!)
cinnamon: 7.4 IU VA per teaspoon (but who would eat that much at one time?)
I once read an article boasting that cinnamon and honey could cure any disease. Similar to this article.
https://www.dabur.com/daburhoney/benefits-of-honey/honey-combinations/benefits-of-cinnamon-and-honey
nutmeg: 2.0 IU VA per teaspoon (but you'd eat more of a sprinkle)
from google: "Nutmeg is found to have health benefits, including its ability to relieve pain, soothe indigestion, strengthen cognitive function, detoxify the body, boost skin health, alleviate oral conditions, reduce insomnia, increase immune system function, and prevent leukemia, and improve blood circulation."
clove: 10.6 IU VA per teaspoon (but you'd only have a sprinkle)
from google: "cloves may have several health benefits, including supporting liver health and helping stabilize blood sugar levels"
ginger: 7.7 IU VA per teaspoon (but you'd eat less than a teaspoon, probably)
turmeric: 0 IU VA per teaspoon (but gosh it is so bright? contains pigments, but not carotenes?)
I've used ginger quite often in life as an anti-inflamatory and for anti- nausea. Turmeric has been the spice-du-jour when it comes to health articles, but I never found that it helped my particular case and I don't really like it. All of this is very individual.
https://ggenereux.blog/discussion/topic/ginger-and-turmeric/
Pretty much every herb and spice is effective against bad gut bugs.
I'm fond of lots of herbs, spices and garlic.
Spices and some herbs have an effect on the liver. On cytochrome P450 for some, and religious diets for people determined to clean the body discourage the use of spices.
If we want to clean our livers I think they are best avoided.
Regarding alliums, I try to always buy WHITE onions, since there is most often a choice.
Whenever I've moved the first thing I do is plant chives. A recipe that I've tried that uses up a whole chive-plant "haircut" is called "herbes salle" by the French, but many "salted herb" recipes exist for many cultures. The recipe I have is mostly chives and onions. Probably lots of benefits to this sort of thing, as there can be with fermented things.
Chives and scallions, being green, have a bit more VA. But you don't eat that much of them at a time.
chive: 43.5 IU VA per teaspoon
slice of onion: .2 IU VA
teaspoon of garlic: .2 IU VA
Quote from Ourania on July 13, 2020, 7:39 amSpices and some herbs have an effect on the liver. On cytochrome P450 for some, and religious diets for people determined to clean the body discourage the use of spices.
If we want to clean our livers I think they are best avoided.
That is very interesting! And I suppose that Grant's good results show that at least some people don't need spices to get well. I think I've heard tell that Dr. Garret might be against some or all of them. ?
I'm pretty sure I've OVERDONE herbs and spices in the past. Too much ginger taken on a boat trip, for instance, trying to not be sea sick. Too many herbs/spices in a candida detox kit... made me feel the cure was worse than the cause.
I would say that my tastes run toward SMALL amounts of these things, and smaller now than before going lowered-VA.
Cayenne pepper is a baddy at: 728 IU per teaspoon!!!! (though I never do more than a sprinkle)
Strangely enough, I've added a small amount of this BACK into my diet of late. Don't know why. Maybe need to re-think! It is notably absent from the general-purpose 18th-century "kitchen pepper" recipe.
You probably wouldn't ever eat a teaspoon of these things. I use these often. I have read that drying them reduces the carotenes, and so I would expect these number to be higher in fresh herbs. I've read that sage was used often as a medicine in the northen Europe. Honey from bees that forage on thyme is medicinal and works very well on sore throats. I have the idea that these herbs were especially popular in Mediteranean cuisines, while northern Europeans seemed to lean toward their imported spices from the orient and the indies.
sage: 29.5 IU per teaspoon
thyme: 38 IU per teaspoon
oregano: 121 IU per teaspoon
basil: 117 IU per teaspoon