Let’s cure ourselves with food and let’s do it with pleasure
Curcuma, black pepper, peperoncino, cumin ……these are some surprising spices with virtues, from soothing to stimulating, even from a sexual point of view
spices
Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
A long time herbs and spices were the only remedy for illnesses. Monks and apothecaries used them knowledgeably, then their use became connected to the world of magic and the trust one had in them was substituted with doubts. On the other hand the Chinese and the Indians have continued using them in abundance, and with often surprising results.
It is consequently very useful to
Pharmacy in 1600
know which effects on our body the spices have, those which sometimes inadvertently we put in our food and drinks. In any case without herbs and spices our food would not have the same charm and pleasantness in its taste.
- Curcuma is the queen of healing with 50 therapeutic virtues. It is an excellent anti-inflammatory. In India added to milk and butter it is used as a cough remedy. Over here it is present in the spray versions of nose decongestants. Its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-stress proprieties are useful also as a shield against cancer.
- Cumin prevents cancer and cures diabetes and osteoporosis tank to its ample contents of Phytoestrogens.
- Black pepper in the past was much much more expensive than gold thanks to its precious virtues: it is useful for constipation, diarrhoea, tooth decay, sunburn, arthritis, catarrh, digestion … and it is aphrodisiacal. All this thanks to the peperina that it contains.
- Among all the aphrodisiacs, the Greek hay is unbeatable. This also helps to increase muscle mass and bosom size.
- Rosemary helps your memory
- Peperoncino (chilli pepper), is an antibacterial and an antioxidant with various other virtues including it being aphrodisiacal
curcuma
Ginger helps with nausea
- Nutmeg brings down your blood pressure
- Cinnamon lowers blood sugar and has a similar effect to insulin. Diabetics should look into it
- Fennel helps fight period pains and bloated tummies.
- Sesame seeds help better the quality of sleep and cure gingivitis
- Thyme soothes coughs
- Basil combats insomnia. Still in India holy basil – erga tulsi- is used in an infusion with ginger and used for colds
- Cloves can be used against joint pains
- Garlic reduces cholesterol
- Black currant is a wonderful help for flu, it contains vitamin C and obviously is a delicious juice to drink
- Liquorice calms a cough. In Holland and in Germany they add it to sugar and ammonium chloride; it has a slight salty taste. They call it salmiakki
- Onion’s cooking water helps a cough
- Marjory sooths colitis, coughs, and tension
- Lemon balm is a sedative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-depressant
- Mint is an analgesic, it tones and blocks sickness
- Lavender is an antiseptic to be used in steam inhalations, to unblock respiratory tract
Cloves
- Coriander used by Chinese medicine for the past 9.000 years cures digestive problems such as difficult digestion, wind, and constipation. It is an excellent diuretic and helps eliminate heavy metals from the body
- Green or Black Amomum (the latter with a more pleasant taste) has anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic proprieties; it thins the blood and reduces the risk of thrombosis. It also freshens the breath.
