Top 10 Favorite Herbs and Spices
Following is an excerpt from the Caltons’ popular new book, Rich Food, Poor Food. I’ve chosen their section on herbs and spices because I learned more details about how to choose the best herbs and spices, and what benefits they offer, from reading their material. If you notice on my Primal Blueprint Food Pyramid, herbs, spices and extracts occupy a nice little triangle at the top. You’re not consuming mass quantities of them as a big calorie source, but they make an important contribution to a healthy diet nevertheless. Besides adding flavor and protecting against microbes, herbs, spices, and extracts provide outstanding levels of antioxidants – some of the highest values found in any food.
Yep, I’m a big fan of herbs, spices, and extracts…and after reading Rich Food, Poor Food and having follow up discussions with the Caltons, I’ve tossed most of the stuff in my cupboard! Why? Because most of the jars found in my own home were not organic, and/or have been in there longer than a year. According to the Caltons, most conventional spices you find in the grocery store have been irradiated during their processing. This compromises their nutritional value and introduces health risks, which are detailed in the following excerpt.
Sorry, herbs and spices do not get better with age (maybe you’re confusing them with the Primal Blueprint indulgence of red wine?); in fact, they lose their potency and become bottled up free radicals when they linger too long on your shelves. For kicks, I asked several folks in the office to go home, take a look at their spice rack or cupboard, and guesstimate how long the stuff has been in there. One realized that her spinning tabletop rack was a holiday gift from seven or eight years ago! Here’s more on the subject from Rich Food, Poor Food, including a nice promo for their gold medalist (and one of my favorites) in the spice category: turmeric.
Rich Food, Poor Food – Excerpt from Herbs and Spices Section
Most grocery store spices are irradiated. Irradiation is the process of exposing food to radiation in order to destroy microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, or insects that might be present in the food. While irradiation works to kill bacteria, it also disrupts the structure of everything it passes through. Specifically, irradiation breaks up a food’s DNA, vitamins, minerals, and proteins and creates “free radicals” (atoms, molecules, or ions that contain unpaired electrons and crash into each other, multiplying exponentially), which contribute to many degenerative diseases, including heart disease, dementia, cancer, and cataracts.
Additionally, irradiation destroys the essential micronutrients that can help you reach micronutrient sufficiency. Your spice rack has so much to offer, that is, when you buy the Rich Food option, which is always the non-irradiated organic spice – our top pick. Here’s a rundown on the benefits of some of our favorite spices:
Dill: Helps your Digestion. A teaspoon a day can reduce 80 percent of bloating in only three days. Its antibacterial oils not only kill any possible stomach bugs but also help in the breakdown of carbohydrates and proteins.
Uses: Feathery texture is sharp-tasting. Great on fish, in chicken and potato salads. Used in pickling.
Tarragon: For Heart Health. One teaspoon daily lowered LDL cholesterol more than 40 percent while increasing good cholesterol nearly 30 percent. Tarragon contains a chemical called rutin, which boosts circulation and reduces plaque in the arteries.
Uses: Flavor of anise, licorice, mint, hay, and pine. Try it in Bernaise sauce.
Oregano: Bacteria Be Gone. Due to the high levels of antibacterial compounds and antioxidants, oregano is just as effective at killing E.Coli and staph bacteria as penicillin.
Uses: Tastes Robust. Best in tomato dishes, usually of Mediterranean or Mexican origin.
Bay Leaf: Natural Pain Reliever. Eliminates headaches and migraines. Bay leaf is rich in eugenol, a natural anesthetic that alleviates pain.
Uses: Tastes woody. Perfect in soups, sauces, stews, and pot roasts.
Rosemary: The Brain Booster and Fatigue Fighter. With just one sniff, the phytochemicals found in rosemary can rev up your mind by increasing production of beta waves. Carnosol, a nutrient unique to this herb, fights fatigue by flushing out energy-sapping toxins from the body.
Uses: Smell rosemary sprigs to increase alertness in only five minutes. Intense pine flavor. Great on grilled meats; adds an interesting boost to chocolate desserts.
Cayenne: Appetite Suppressant and Metabolism Booster. Capsaicin, found in cayenne, has thermogentic properties that increase your blood flow and metabolism. Individuals who only use cayenne infrequently also find it reduces hunger.
Uses: Sweet heat. Works well with meats and cheeses.
Cinnamon: Controls Glucose Levels. Cinnamon contains antioxidants called polyphenols that boost levels of three key proteins responsible for insulin signaling, glucose transport, and inflammatory response. Sprinkle one half teaspoon on your food to slow carbohydrate absorption by 29 percent.
Uses: Sweet and Savory. This spice is found in almost all world cuisine. From stews to pies this spice doesn’t discriminate.
Cardamom: Treats Indigestion. Chew one teaspoon of these seeds to soothe a sour belly. The aroma and therapeutic properties of cardamom are due to the volatile oil in its seed, which contains cineol, terpinene, limonene, sabinene, and terpineol.
Uses: Pungent and sweet. This fragrant spice is used in rich curries and milk-based preparations, as well as in spice cakes and desserts.
Sage: Memory Minder. Both the phytonutrients and volatile oils in sage maintain levels of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that supports memory.
Uses: Piney with eucalyptus notes. Lovely addition to stuffing and pork dishes.
And our favorite Rich Food spice is . . . Turmeric
This mildly woody spice is a key ingredient in many Indian, Persian, and Thai dishes. This “poor man’s” saffron is rich in benefits. The active ingredient, curcumin, is so powerful that it is commonly made into expensive nutraceutical capsules. According to Ajay Goel, Ph.D., Director of Epigenetics and Cancer Prevention at Baylor Research Institute in Dallas, “Curcumin is a complete well-being tonic – it benefits every organ in the body… It shows promise of fighting nearly every disease.” Dr. Goel suggests that curcumin aids in the prevention of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and depression.
Why not just cook up a cure in your kitchen tonight?
Curcumin Controls Blood Sugar: It switches on the liver genes that keep glucose levels in check. It improves the pancreas’s ability to make insulin and helps slow down the metabolism of carbohydrates after meals.
Curcumin Fights Cancer: It inhibits the genetic switches that allow for cancerous cell growth to occur.
Curcumin Speeds Up Metabolism: USDA research shows that is enhances cellular energy to speed metabolism.
Curcumin Clears Plaque: It removes amyloyd plaque buildup in the brain that can cause Alzheimer’s.
Making Cents
Let’s face it, organic spice jars are small and pricey, and it can take along time to use up some of these specialty ingredients. Your best bet is to buy your organic spices in the bulk section of your local health food or specialty spice store, where you can buy smaller amounts of the spices you need right away. This guarantees that your spices are fresh, loaded with flavor, and saves you money when a recipe only calls for a pinch. Buy your own glass jars online or wash out old spice jars and transfer contents from store baggies into convenient glass jars. Store them in a cool, dark place to prevent oxidative damage from light and oxygen.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Be careful growing oregano! It belongs to the mint family and will take over. You might want to bury a pot of it leaving an inch or so of pot above ground.
Yes, my mint plant from last spring is doing really well. It was planted in the same pot as the basil. It choked out the basil and now I have a whole pot of rapidly growing mint!
Dill is awesome on eggs.
Is there anything wrong with storing your (organic) dried spices tightly sealed in the freezer? That is how my grandmother taught me to spices fresh, but does anyone know if it really works?
*keep spices fresh…long day
Would it be better to buy fresh (organic)herbs and dry them yourself or buy already dried/ground?
Oregano, thyme, sage, and rosemary are very easy to grow as perennial potted plants. You get max nutrition because you can pick them right before cutting them up finely and adding to dishes, vinaigrettes, etc. Just bring them indoors in the colder months at higher lattitudes. You can freeze bulk quantities of basil, parsley, cilantro, etc, for the winter.
Is Penzeys spices irradiated?
I had no idea about the effects of tarragon on cholesterol levels. Is that a teaspoon of fresh tarragon, or dried?
I see there are already many on here who know of the wonders of Penzey’s! Every so often I apply to work there, but so far, they don’t want me. Darn, seems like a dream job, and who would mind coming home smelling like THAT?
lol pretty sure my mother still has spices from the 70s somewhere
We use the seeds from the dill plant to make tea. Great for upset stomach, particularly for kids who don’t like ginger tea. Dill seed tea is very mild and is one of the main ingredients in gripe water.
Turmeric–I love the stuff. Goes into my salad dressing, on my eggs, etc.
This is the United States of Turmerica, damnit!
Don’t forget to take it all with some lemon/lime juice.
That is how I take my Turmeric and ginger put it in mouth and wash it down with the juice.
I live in Maine and still manage to have a nice little perennial herb garden. I grow oregano, thyme, French tarragon, sage, mint & lemon balm. In the spring I plant parsley & dill. I have a hard time growing basil here.
I use all my herbs often in the summer, and in the fall I either dry or freeze them.
I buy my spices from Penzey’s. Does anyone know if they are organic?
I use thyme on just about everything cooked. It’s great in omelets, whole grain pastas, on meats, even in meat wraps with mustard. I think Mark may even be responsible for my infatuation with it. I’m pretty sure I read about it in one of his books.
I have been buying organic herbs from Mountain Rose Herb Company and encapsulating them myself for 8-9 months. Had warts on my hands for years and they all just disappeared. Caught the cold that had every one down for two weeks and it was extremely mild and gone in two days.Check former big pharma chemist thepeopleschemist.com. All formulations are herbal based.
Turmeric is fat soluble. So when you spill some and can’t get the stain out, try working in some oil to absorb the turmeric and then wash the oil away with detergent. It also goes through a dish better if it is allowed to absorb into an oil first eg fry the spice blend briefly before adding the meat like in most asian cultures.
Piperine in black pepper is one of the things that improves turmerics bioavailabilty.
Go the curry!
Totally agree. Fat soluble spices should be bloomed with heat. Indian dishes use heat and ghee to bloom/develop the flavor.
Fresh ginger is the best!
GreenMedInfo.com has lots of PubMed articles indexed on turmeric (amazing tumor fighter) and other herbs. Try cutting up cauliflower, toss with olive oil, ginger, turmeric, garlic, and roast in the oven a few minutes. I am not a big cauliflower fan but like it this way.
FYI – In Rich Food, Poor Food, the Caltons offer coupons for organic spices from companies like Simply Organic and Frontier.
if you want to avoid the little plastic bags from the bulk section at the health food store just bring your own jars from home and get a tare weight for them before filling…keeps your spices from being stuck to plastic and less waste!
My parents have spices in their cupboard that are older than me. And I’m 30. But they’re hoarders and I doubt they actually use those spices.
On the freshness tip. I’m actually starting a dried herb exchange club, wherein we have a group of people who are each growing one herb and then we get together and swap. It’s less bother than maintaining a large herb garden, but we all get the benefit of diverse, locally grown and freshly dried herbs.
I usually buy my spices in bulk from Whole Foods. I would assume they aren’t irradiated, but does anyone know for sure. Also, how long before you should throw spices out – in other words, what is their shelf life?
An article from Physorg.com states that preliminary research shows tumeric has strong anti viral properties. It interferes with the virus’ ability to replicate and spread through cells in the body. I personally have used it twice this year when I felt a cold/flu developing. I put a 1/4 tsp in a cup of hot water, added a sprinkle of cinnamon for taste, and drank before bed. Felt fine the next morning.
Grow your own spices. I grow oregano (Greek & Italian), choc mint, thyme – all perenials – and plant basil, parsley & sage &/or dill every yr. I dry them in dehydrator & store in glass jars kept in fridge so they stay fresh for a very long time (still have some from last summer & hasn’t lost scent or flavour).
I’m putting in my own raised gardens this summer (making them out of cinder block). Can anyone suggest a good website or book on planning an herb garden and zones for the different herbs?
Woops! I had no idea that spices expired and that expired spices could actually be harmful to you. Oh geez, I need to clear out my cupboards. =/
Some herbs and spices will give a negative reaction if you use it daily, and some will have a diminishing return, so it’s best to do a lot of research on which ones you choose to use. After using Cayenne daily for about 7 years it gives me diarhhea now.
Use them wisely and you can say adios to your doctor. They are also good to get rid of the sweetness addiction. Your senses of taste and smell will gradually improve.
Very nice and interesting post, anyway I want to just add something more info. Like, too much could deplete your muscles because of too much protein as well as mineral deprivation. Moreover, too much intake of the tea that is a laxative may irritate and also damage the colon’s nerve ending.
Some of these herbs and spices are anti-bacterial, so I assume they also kill off our good bacteria? I have heard that cinnamon doesn’t kill the good bacteria, only the bad, but can’t seem to find any reference to that. Has anyone else heard that?