Spicing Things Up

Have you ever wondered how popular spices are use in Asian culture for everyday meals and what health benefits come with using them?

The following spices have been used for thousands of years to treat all types of illnesses and create delicious dishes of every kind.

Ginger:

Ginger’s tangy freshness, light spiciness, homey warmth, and mellow sweetness complement a range of dishes, from sweet to savory. In American culture ginger is primarily used for cookies and muffins. But that’s only some of what this great spice is capable of. Kew Royal Botanic Gardens says that ginger is a key ingredient in many South Asian aromatic dishes like Yam Hoy Hraeng and Yam Pla Tu. In the north of India, garlic, ginger and onion are often pounded together to make a paste, which is then fried to form the basis of vegetable and meat dishes. Ginger also has multiple health benefits. It has been used in Chinese medicine for over 2,000 years.

Saffron:

Saffron is used for asthma, cough, whooping cough (pertussis), and to loosen phlegm (as an expectorant). It is also used for sleep problems (insomnia), cancer, “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis), intestinal gas (flatulence), depression, Alzheimer’s disease, fright, shock, spitting up blood (hemoptysis), pain, heartburn, and dry skin. Women use saffron for menstrual cramps and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Men use it to prevent early orgasm (premature ejaculation) and infertility. Saffron is also used for to increase interest in sex (as an aphrodisiac) and to induce sweating.

Sichuan Peppercorn:

In the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this slightly spicy, warm herb is often used to stimulate the taste buds to take more food, warm the body, get rid of cold and dampness, and protect the stomach and spleen.

 Turmeric:

Also know as, Curcuma longa, the bright yellow of the spice rainbow, is a powerful medicine that has long been used in the Chinese and Indian systems of medicine as an anti-inflammatory agent to treat a wide variety of conditions, including flatulence, jaundice, menstrual difficulties, bloody urine, hemorrhage, toothache, bruises, chest pain, and colic.