Top 6 Spices and Herbs to Keep You Warm and Healthy During Winters
At the time when the cold season is on, and the cold temperature strikes quite a chilling blow, it makes a lot of sense to consume something that is healthy as well as warming. There are a lot of herbs and spices available which not only keep your warm during the winter season but also helps you to maintain an overall good health. Moreover, all these herbs and spices are naturally available, thereby making it easier to obtain. In addition to this, these spices and herbs have a wide range of health benefits, thereby making the consumption of the same highly advantageous during the winter season. There is a wide variety of herbs and spices available in the market. The availability of huge numbers makes it extremely confusing for the individuals to properly understand as to which of the herbs and spices are appropriately suited. This, in turn, becomes quite a difficult situation for the individuals. Now, to eliminate the confusion of the individuals and make it easy for them, here we have listed the top six herbs & spices that are ideally suited for the winter season to keep the individuals warm as well as healthy.
1. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is an excellent spice that plays a vital role in helping the dampness in the body to dry. At the same time, cinnamon enhances the circulation in the body which helps the body to keep warm. The astringent effect of tannins so present in cinnamon helps in bringing about a drying effect on the mucous membranes. This, in turn, plays a crucial role in removing the excess water from the tissues, thereby helping in increasing the temperature of the body. In addition to this, cinnamon has highly potential anti-oxidant, anti-septic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-microbial properties which bring about a host of health benefits to the users. Cinnamon is extremely helpful for the individuals who have a tendency to suffer from cold, and flu in the winter season. Most importantly, cinnamon is an excellent digestive tonic, and hence helps in keeping the digestive system functioning properly.
2. Cardamom
Cardamom is a spice that has its unique spicy and sweet flavour, along with a great fragrance. Thus, cardamom has a wide range of applications in savoury dishes. Cardamom is known for its high levels of concentrated cineol, which is a natural expectorant. This, in turn, plays a vital role in stimulating the lungs, therefore loosening as well as drying congestion, which results in increasing the core temperatures of the body of humans. Thus, cardamom has a warming effect on the individuals, and hence, extremely beneficial to be consumed in the winter season. There are a number of recent studies which have brought to light that cardamom has a number of other health-inducing properties as well, like lowering of blood pressure and significantly improving total antioxidant status in the body of the human beings. So, it would be a very good idea to introduce cardamom in your diet especially during the winter season.
3. Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne is a member of the Solanaceae or nightshade family and is usually consumed in the powdered form. Cayenne pepper is very well known for their hot and fiery flavour. Adding the same to the food makes the food very hot and spicy. The spice has an extremely noticeable warming effect at the time when consumed. The warming effect induced as a result of consuming cayenne is because of the presence of the active compound capsaicin in high concentrations. Cayenne pepper is also quite rich in vitamin C contents, which in turn, plays a major role in relieving chills, congestions, and cough. There are a lot of studies that cayenne has a lot of potential health benefits which includes the enhancement of the rate of metabolism, and increasing the core temperature of the body. Cayenne pepper not only adds a great hot and spicy flavour to different dishes but also helpful in keeping the body warm during the cold winters.
4. Cloves
Cloves are another versatile spice which is actually the dried flower buds of an evergreen tree belonging to the Myrtaceae family. This spice is warm, aromatic, and sweet which makes it a preferable spice in both sweet as well as savoury dishes. Clove oil has extremely high concentrations of eugenol, which has a wide range of medicinal applications. The component eugenol acts a rubefacient, thereby causing the capillaries to dilate and increases the circulation of blood. This, in turn, makes the skin feel warmer, and at the same time, eugenol also makes clove oil extremely effective in topical applications for pain in the muscles and joints. In addition to this, the use of eugenol in dentistry as a local anaesthetic in as well as an antiseptic for gum and tooth health. Moreover, there are increasing evidences to show that clove possesses very high levels of antiinflammatory, antioxidants, and anticancer properties. Therefore, the consumption of cloves not only keep you warm and healthy during the winter season, but also offers a wide range of other health benefits as well.
5. Ginger
Ginger is another spice that is packed with a lot of heat and is a member of the Zingiberaceae family. This is extremely familiar root that is pungent as well as aromatic, thereby readily used in food preparation for the purpose of bringing about a distinctive flavour in cooking. In addition to this, ginger has a lot of medicinal properties as well. Ginger is one of the most effective home remedies in the treatment of upset stomachs, motion sickness, and nausea. Ginger has highly potential anti septic properties and at the same time has a high level of anti-oxidants too. Ginger is a suitable spice to be consumed in the winter season because of its potential heath generating capacities. This warming capacity of ginger is as a result of gingerol, which is an active constituent of ginger in high concentrations. Ginger helps in the improvement of circulation to all parts of the body. In winters, ginger baths are warming, muscle relaxing as well as cold and flu relieving which makes ginger a preferred choice for many in the winter season.
6. Garlic
Garlic is a member of the Liliaceae family which plays a vital role in helping us to be more resistant to infection. Garlic is a highly potential vasodilator, and at the same time helps in the improvement of circulation by helping in the prevention of blood from clumping together. Garlic increases heat in the body which helps in dealing with the cold temperature during the winter season. It keeps the body warm and healthy at the time when the temperatures are low, along with fighting different types of viral infections.
After going through the list of herbs and spices, it becomes very clear as to what are the most suitable ones to be taken in the winter season. Consuming the above mentioned herbs and spices in the winter season plays a vital role in keeping the body warmer, along with helping the individuals to maintain a good health during the entire winter season. So, what are you waiting for? Just refer to the list of herbs & spices and incorporate the same in your diet to avail the benefits from them.
Source: https://www.indoasiangroceries.com.au/spices-and-herbs-to-keep-you-warm-and-healthyduring-winters