Spices are used in the kitchen to rev
up the dishes. Without their taste, the dishes lack in flavor. In fact, the
spices also provide medicinal benefits besides adding zest to the food and help
us in improving our health.
Several households use spices as
numerous herbal remedies following the traditional Indian medicinal wisdom.
Tribal Indians take it a step ahead by using spices to cure even several
life-threatening ailments.
Spices when added to the dishes, not
only improve the taste but are also profoundly effective towards betterment of
the health. Due to their heat, however, people hesitate in using them more.
Effective in
blood purification
Often one learns from the elders that
one must consume spicy food at least once a week or two. From my childhood I
had a sweet tooth, I avoided spicy food always. My father always used to tell
me to eat spice so that my stomach will be free of parasites and my blood shall
be purified.
Slowly awareness dawned on me and from
my early days as a research scholar in the late 1990s till present age, I finally
understood one thing that the stomach should also be exposed to spicy palate
occasionally.
It has been roughly 20 years working
with the forest dwellers and during this period I have hardly witnessed any
forest dweller afflicted with heart ailments. Finally, I relented and asked a tribal
elder as to why their food is so spicy.
To keep the heart
and liver strong
Pat replied the elder that one should
eat well spiced food to keep the heart and liver healthy. Such is the opinion
of the rural tradition moving further to a 2014 research report published in Nutritional Journal which talked of an
experiment wherein 14 healthy volunteer, aged about 45 were given food in form
of curry, packed with spices such as cinnamon, turmeric, garlic, bay leaf,
clove, black pepper, ginger and chilies; 14 other volunteers were given food
without spice which consisted of boiled rice (200gms) and vegetables.
Volunteers’ blood vessels were closely
observed before and after the intake of curry. It was observed that the
volunteers who had taken curry their blood flow’s rate had increased (FMD: Flow
Mediated Vasodilation) while others had shown its reduced rate (decreased FMD).
Report showed that this was due to the
presence of antioxidants in the spices. People who suffer from narrowing or hardening
of the blood vessels or atherosclerosis must consume such food items.
Traditional
wisdom is now lauded
The report findings published in the Nutritional Journal may be new to the
developed nations, but spicy food has long been advocated in the Indian homes.
It is certainly encouraging that people swearing by modern science too have
accepted the wisdom of traditional nutritional and health practices.
Several venerated texts of Japan,
Korea as well as India have upheld the benefits and uses of strong spices.
Popular in Japan the recipe of curry is one such dish which comprises of
several spices and is quite pungent. Even though the Japanese may tear up upon
having the dish they still consume it at least once or twice every month.
Japanese curry calls for spices such as clove, coriander, cumin, garlic, red
chilies, black peppers besides other local spices. It is interesting to note
that it was the British who popularized this recipe during Miji Era
(1868-1912).
Blood pressure regularized
The new research concluded that after
consuming the spicy curry, the inner lining of the volunteer’s blood vessel or
endothelium got relatively dilated thereby regularizing the blood pressure.
So, one is now able to see how spicy
food can counter atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis or the arterial plaque
doesn’t happen overnight, the slow shrinking of endothelium over the period of
several years results in atherosclerosis.
If the habit of eating spicy food is
inculcated from the childhood the endothelium would remain dilated and would
not be shrunk and the positive result of which would be evident after many
years.
Do include spicy
with sweet
What else now? Simply relish spicy
food once a week inform of spicy curry or vegetable. Try so that the children
love spices as much as sweets because, after all, it is the question of your as
well as the future generations’ health.
As an endnote let me ask — have you
ever eaten slow roasted red whole chilies with lime juice and salt? Eat spicy a
few times for better health.
