Scientific research carried out today reveals that spices can be effective in protecting our health and in the treatment of some diseases, beyond being a flavor element.
Spices, which are an important component of our daily life as a flavor element of our meals, are defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as follows: “With or without essential oil and flavoring components, fragmented or unbroken or used for the purpose of flavoring foods regardless of whether they have any nutritional value or not. aromatic plant materials available in powder form”.
Throughout human history, great importance has been attached to these tempting flavors of spices. Valuable exotic spices such as black pepper, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, galangal and saffron grown in South and East Asian countries have been accepted as high-value goods such as jewelry in trade. The travel purposes of the famous travelers Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus were not to discover new continents, but to explore travel routes to Asian countries such as India and China, where most of these spices are available.
Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama managed to go to India by sea at the end of the 14th century and returned with precious spices such as ginger, black pepper and cinnamon as well as jewellery. Then, the race started in South and East Asia in order to dominate the spice trade, in which other European countries also went to the region using this road, turned into bloody spice wars that lasted for two centuries between European countries.
It is thought that onions and garlic were used by nomadic Turkish tribes in Central Asia about ten thousand years ago, and then came to India and Mediterranean countries. There is evidence that cinnamon was first cultivated in China five thousand years ago. In Egypt, it began to be cultivated much later, two thousand years ago. For this reason, it is known that cinnamon was used during the Ancient Greek and Roman Empires. Today, some South American countries are also involved in the trade of exotic spices.
Scientific research carried out today reveals that spices can be effective in protecting our health and in the treatment of some diseases, beyond being a flavor element. While they play a role in the preservation of foods with their antioxidant and antimicrobial effects in general, they can suppress the undesirable taste and odor of foods with their aromatic-smelling components. In fact, different flavors obtained by mixing these spices in different proportions can make the prepared meals more demanding.
For me, spices are the most indispensable element of my table; I prefer to add spices instead of salt and sugar to add flavor to my dishes. Therefore, I am protected from the harms of excess salt thanks to spices. Spices also increase stomach acid and bile secretion, helping the body to digest and metabolize food.
As in all plants, there are hundreds of phytochemical components in the composition of spices, as well as aromatic substances that give flavor and smell; terpenes, phenylpropanoids, polyphenols, sulfur compounds, isothiocyanates, diarylheptanoids, et al. Therefore, depending on these ingredients, it is known that it has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years in the treatment of skin diseases, inflammatory and infectious diseases.
Scientific studies show that it can play a preventive role in the development of pancreatic, colon, breast and lung cancers. Undoubtedly, turmeric is shown as the most valuable spice in this regard. Among the various examples in the results of scientific research on this subject; polyacetylene components found in celery leaves can prevent tumor development in the body; Information can be given that the phenylpropanoids in star anise can prevent the development of cancer.
Undoubtedly, taking into account these effects of spices for our health, the use of spices as drugs indiscriminately in large quantities other than their intended use will do more harm than good. In this regard, one has to be extremely careful.
