Spice it up

It’s easy to forget about herbs and spices. BeWell spoke with Alison Ryan, MS, RD, CSO, CNSC, clinical dietitian for the Stanford Hospital Cancer Center, about how overlooking these foods can be a missed opportunity to add a dash of health and wellness to your life.

What is the difference between a spice and an herb?

While there is variability in the way the terms are used, spices generally come from the seeds or bark of a plant, whereas herbs tend to come from the leaves.

How long have herbs and spices been a part of human culture?

For as long as people have been foraging for food, herbs and spices have been part of our diet. Initially, herbs and spices were chosen for flavor, necessity and experimentation. You can imagine a time when meat wasn’t very fresh [laughter], so herbs and spices were added to cover up bad tastes.

What studies have been done on the health benefits of herbs and spices?

While the food industry has conducted many studies on the use of herbs and spices, such as flavor profiles or prolonged shelf life, there is less research of the health effects. Unlike for clinical medicine, there is limited funding for research of foods and supplements. Studies are generally done in test tubes and mouse models before they reach the human level, where the research is more challenging — especially with herbs and spices, which are but one small component of the entire diet. Researchers can look for tissue level changes or blood markers, but this is not the same as showing disease reduction.

Do different cultures show us the health benefits of certain herbs and spices?

In certain Indian cultures, where they eat significant quantities of herbs and spices every day, we can see more defined disease and health trends. We may see that a group using certain herbs has a reduced rate of certain conditions — but these findings are purely observation, and cannot be declared cause-and-effect phenomena. Much of this knowledge is anecdotal. However, even if we don’t have clear, controlled data, the large-scale use of these foods over lengthy time periods strongly suggests certain health benefits.

I’m Italian, so I grew up eating lots of garlic [laughter]. My great-grandma would put a string of garlic around her kids’ necks when we had the flu. Does that work? I don’t know, but my ancestors certainly knew that there were health benefits or some sort of medicinal aspect to garlic.

Is there a quick way to know which spices might be the most healthy?

I tell my patients that whether it is fruits or vegetables, herbs or spices, nature has given us some clues as to which foods are particularly good for us:

• Bright colors (for example, a ¼ teaspoon of turmeric will color a whole dish)

• Strong taste (one clove raw garlic can flavor a lot of food)

• Bitterness (exclusive of poisonous foods)

Can you give us an example of one of the more definitive health benefits of a spice?

The efficacy of certain spices has been backed up by more data than with others. Cinnamon has more data because it is easy to measure the short-term (minute-to-minute) changes of glucose levels. The use of cinnamon (in addition to reducing your sugar intake, controlling your carbohydrate intake and exercise) has been shown to lower blood glucose levels by a couple of points in people with or without diabetes. Cinnamon is one of those sweet spices that you can add to your oatmeal, coffee/tea or yogurt and it brings out the sweetness in the food without having to add sugar. The benefit is two-fold: the cinnamaldehyde will help lower blood sugar, plus you might use less sugar in your food.

What about anti-inflammatory benefits?

Herbs and spices, just like fruits and vegetables, have phytochemicals and phytonutrients in them. If you are already eating tons of fruits and vegetables and are looking for what more you can do, ask yourself, “Am I eating garlic regularly, turmeric regularly, or black pepper regularly?” Each one has a slightly different benefit depending on the phytonutrient profile.

If you could make one collective dietary change in the US, what would it be?

Believe it or not, corn and ketchup are the two most popular vegetables in the United States. We should increase our intake and variety of plant foods: vegetables, mushrooms, fruits, beans, etc.

 … any final thoughts?

It’s easy to get too caught up with trends. For example, I wouldn’t worry about whether something has gluten in it; more important is to make sure you’re eating multiple servings of fruits and veggies every day. Furthermore, keep in mind that fruits, veggies, spices all work better in our bodies when we are moving.  The more physical activity we do, the more our bodies can make efficient use of all the healthy foods we are eating.

For additional information, see:
http://www.mccormickscienceinstitute.com/Spice-Landing.aspx
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals.html
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/foods.html
http://www.aicr.org/reduce-your-cancer-risk/diet/elements_phytochemicals.html

Interview conducted by Julie Croteau and edited by Lane McKenna.