Spices

How Does Pickling Affect Enzymes?

Pickling is a traditional method of preserving fresh raw vegetables, fruits and herbs. This method uses vinegars, spices and salt to prevent certain foods from spoiling. Pickling does not require heating, cooking or processing the fruits and vegetables, so it preserves much of the natural food enzymes and nutrients.

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All About Spices

How to Store Pickles for Pickling

Cucumbers are tangy, crunchy and surprisingly difficult to store. Regular or Persian cucumbers purchased at the store are often waxed to keep in moisture, but cucumbers from a home garden will begin to spoil within a few days o...

Allergy to Vegeta Spice

The Vegeta line of seasoning mixtures was launched in 1959 by Podravka, a Croatian manufacturer. Many classic recipes use vegetables such as carrots, onion and celery to add flavor. Podravka's innovation was to combine dried ve...

Can Spices Cause a Miscarriage?

Some spices could cause miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, but not because of their spicy flavor. Many spices and herbs stimulate uterine contractions or uterine bleeding, which can cause very early miscarriage or later pregn...

Spices That Stimulate Peristalsis

... is the uncontrollable movement of your intestinal muscles, contracting and pushing digested food through your gastrointestinal tract. This process is also referred to as intestinal motility. Certain spices in your diet can ...

What Are the Dangers of Spices?

For thousands of years, humans have added flavor to food by using various herbs and spices. Most of the time, spices are completely safe to eat; some, in fact, can also offer various health benefits. In rare cases, however, cer...

How to Spice Up Lentils

Lentils, along with peas and beans, belong to the legume family. Small and with a nutty flavor, lentils are often used in soups or as a side dish for a meal. The basic preparation method is to cook the dried lentils in water to...

Cumin Spice Allergies

Cumin seed is a spice with a slightly bitter, earthy taste. Ground cumin is often used in taco seasoning, chili powder and other spice mixes. You can also find cumin added to the cuisine of North Africa, India and the Middle Ea...

What Spices Can You Have With an Ulcer?

An ulcer is a sore in the lining of the digestive tract and can occur in the esophagus, stomach or intestines. Though not fully understood, ulcers can be caused by factors that attack and diminish the protective interior mucosa...

The Advantages of the Spice Cumin

...is part of the parsley family and is available either whole or ground. Cumin seeds have a slightly spicy flavor and aroma that pairs well with many types of meats and vegetables. Adding cumin to your spice cabinet offers sev...

Nutritious Spices

Dried aromatic spices made from seeds, berries, roots, leaves and pods add complex flavors to recipes, replace unhealthy ingredients such as salt and sugar and provide nutritious vitamins and minerals. Some spices contain anti...

Nine Spices That Are Good for You

spices pack plenty of healthful compounds in small packages. Phenols in spices stimulate your immune system to protect you against disease and fight free radical oxygen molecules that can damage your cells, leading to diseases ...

The Effects of Spices on the Gastrointestinal Tract

Digestive disorders are especially amenable to treatment by herbs and spices, herbalist David Hoffman says. Through absorption and metabolism, plant chemicals can affect all the systems of the body, but they also directly affec...

How to Add Applesauce to Spice Cake Mix

While you like your family to have some delicious treats now and then, the truth is that most desserts aren't healthy. Still, birthdays and other special occasions call for a special cake. Cake mixes are made to be nearly infal...

How to Spice Gravy

...g it are all hurdles. Once you've leapt those, you still have to figure out how to season your gravy. The best time to do that is while it is beginning to thicken. But there are literally hundreds of spices to choose from an...

How to Add Spice to Store-Bought Spaghetti Sauce

... flavors blend. However, the flavor of many store-bought sauces can be disappointing. Some sauces contain little more than the tomato and water, which makes for uninteresting and bland spaghetti. Add spice to the sauce to re...

How to Convert Spice Measurements From Fresh to Dry

When a recipe calls for a fresh herb or spice but all you have on hand is the dry variety, in most cases the dry kind will suffice. Adding dried or powdered spices in place of the fresh kind to soups, stews and dressings will h...

What Spice Protects the Eyes From Cataracts?

... lens becomes clouded, it does not allow light to pass cleanly through, and your vision grows blurry. Glare from bright lights, such as automobile headlights, also becomes troublesome. Some foods and spices, such as curcumin...

How to Make Your Own Spaghetti Sauce With Spice Blends

...h, earthy fragrance that will draw everyone to the kitchen well before it's time to eat. Seasoning spaghetti sauce is not complicated, though it is as much art as science. New cooks may not know what spices best complement t...

How do I Make Sweet Paprika?

Paprika is the featured ingredient in recipes for chorizo sausage, chicken paprikash and other dishes, but the differences between the varieties of the spice are stark. Crafted from dried peppers, the powdery spice is available...

Spices That Cause Inflammation

Aside from adding distinctive flavors to many dishes, spices provide a wide range of nutritional and health benefits and some assist in food preservation. As with any ingested substance, however, allergies and adverse reactions...

How to Sear Ahi With Spices

...itionally eaten rare or medium rare, is quite flavorful and elegant when prepared only with a bit of vegetable oil. Seared ahi is a versatile dish, and can be complemented with a variety of herbs and spices.

How to Make Pickles With a Pickling Spice

...hey can be stored in your cupboard. However, there are also recipes for refrigerator pickles. A recipe found in many old American cookbooks is bread-and-butter pickles, made with vinegar and pickling spices.

Tamarind Spice Allergy

Tamarind is a spice that is commonly used to make cumin. It has its origins in the Far East and is made from a brown bean-pod of the tamarind tree, according to the Epicentre Encyclopedia of spices. Because the spice is made fr...

Arthritis & Spices

spices, which come from plants, can play an important role in your health. A variety of spices have been found to have some therapeutic uses, including some anti-inflammatory benefits that may help you if you have arthritis, ac...

What Spices Help for Headaches?

...muscles, to migraine or cluster headaches caused by changing blood flow to the brain. Environmental factors like hormones, stress, noises and even certain foods can cause or worsen any headache. Food spices can benefit heada...

How to Blend Pickling Spices

Pickling spice is the piquant and often zesty combination of herbs and spices that adds a unique zing to pickled vegetables. In small amounts, it can also be used in braised meat dishes -- like the St. Patrick's Day stand-by co...

Spices: Cheap Vs. Expensive

spices add flavor to many meals and if having a wide variety of them in your pantry is your goal, you need to consider their cost. You can buy a lot of cheap spices to add to your foods, but there will be times you'll want to s...

Spices for a Headache

...ine consumption, allergies, viral infections and environmental pollutants. Some types of headaches, particularly migraines, are caused by rapid changes in blood pressure in your brain. Several common spices may help alleviat...

Are Spices Good for You?

spices add color, depth and flavor to many of your favorite foods, but spices have benefits that reach beyond just tasting good. MayoClinic.com reports that spices contain may beneficial compounds that can help protect and impr...

Spices to Fight Flus & Viruses

Spices can do more than just add flavor to dishes and meals; some can also help boost immunity and help you fight flus and viruses. These are not meant to take the place of any medications, but to help strengthen your immune sy...

Spices and Antioxidant Levels

Spices come from the seeds, bark and roots of plants that normally grow in regions with a warm climate. Spices contain antioxidants, which are compounds that protect cells from oxidation and free radical damage. Antioxidants ma...

Spices and Diet

Most Spices are native to the Spice Islands of Indonesia, where world explorers discovered them, and exported the Spices to other regions. Beginning in the early 1800s, the established cultivation of Spices in many areas ended ...

Health & Spices

spices give food potent aromas and flavorful zing. These cooking accouterments have added flare to perfumes and foods for centuries. In medieval times, spices were held in high regard in Europe and Asia because of their rarity,...

Spices & Nutrition

Nutrition therapy is often thought of as pertaining only to nutritive foods that provide energy. The benefits of consuming non-nutritive foods, such as herbs, essences and spices, are often overlooked by the mainstream medical ...

Spices As a Healthy Alternative

Spices are a healthy way to add flavor to food without adding sodium, fat or sugar. This can be especially helpful if you are trying to eat healthier, and you are looking for a way to make fruits, vegetables or reduced-fat reci...

Do Spices Contain Vitamins?

Retail sales trends forecast that Americans would spent an estimated $3.8 billion on spices in 2010, according to the USDA. Historically, spices have been connected with world exploration, exotic cooking and medicinal uses. Tod...

Indian Spices & Health

The ancient practice of Ayurvedic medicine promotes a healthy diet in its philosophy. Foods rich in spices are traditionally used for health and flavor. Ayurveda promotes providing the six tastes -- astringent, pungent, bitter,...

Spices that Are Good for the Brain

spices enhance the flavors of your favorite foods but can also benefit your brain health as well. Larry McCleary reports in his book, "The Brain Trust Program," that spices come from the ground up berries, seeds, bark or roots ...

Health Guidelines for Spices

Not only do spices enhance the flavor and color of foods, they also provide many health benefits, such as blood glucose control and antioxidant properties. That includes the varieties available at your grocery store. As heart d...

Which Spices Are Good for You?

spices, long regarded as merely flavorful additions to recipes, are becoming increasingly appreciated for their nutritional contribution to many popular dishes. Backed by considerable scientific evidence, certain notable spices...

Healthiest Spices

spices can enhance your food and make your favorite foods taste even better. Many spices are also good for you and can help improve your health and prevent illness and disease. According to Jonny Bowden, author of "The 150 Heal...

Calories in Herbs & Spices

Black pepper, dill, oregano -- these are just some of the common herbs and spices used to enhance a variety of dishes. If you're counting calories, it's important to know the nutritional facts of the herbs and spices you use wh...

Spices That Control Bacterial Growth

...d by harmful bacteria include strep throat, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections and sinus infections, among others, according to the Mayo Clinic. Substances that treat bacterial infections include spices that naturally co...

10 Most Antioxidant Spices

Many spices contain high levels of nutrients known as antioxidants that help to counteract the effect of damaging free radicals, contribute to optimal physical health and aid in the prevention of many diseases. In "Brain-Buildi...

What Are Spices That Are Alkaline?

The human body works best when it is slightly alkaline, according to Elizabeth Lipski in the book "Digestive Wellness." In order to maintain this pH, Lipski recommends eating 60 percent foods that contribute to alkalinity and 4...

Medicinal Spices

Before the introduction of modern medicine, spices were often used to treat common aliments. Doctors were not only expensive, but few and far between. Some cultures, such as the Native American Cherokee only used plants as med...

Antioxidants in Spices

...e an important part of the diet because they assist your body in neutralizing free radicals before they are able to do any damage. Antioxidants are found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and tea. Spices are a surprisingl...

Vegan Spices

Spices are essential components of cuisines around the world. They are used to add flavor and aroma to a variety of foods, including soups, pasta dishes, stews, casseroles, stir fry dishes and curries. Spices can also replace s...

How to Determine Vitamins in Spices

You know bananas contain potassium, but did you know you can also get it from black pepper? You probably just think of spices simply as ingredients that enhance the flavor of your cooking. While this is their primary use, they ...

Spices in Foods to Kill Parasites

...ave invaded. Common types of parasitic infections are those of the skin and the intestinal tract. Anti-parasitic medications are sometimes required to rid yourself of the infection. Several herbs and spices that are used to ...

Healthy Spices

spices provide more than flavorful seasoning to food, claims the Mayo Clinic website. Certain spices may offer health benefits, such as preventing cancer, Alzheimer's, heart disease and diabetes. Although high doses of the spic...

Spices for Pain

If you are experiencing pain or looking for alternatives to pain medications, you may be happy to find relief in your own kitchen or supermarket. Several spices contain chemicals that provide pain relief and are backed by medic...

Spices in Foods to Kill Parasites

...opulations that reside in regions where spicier fare is typical suffer less diarrhea and other symptoms of parasites. Though there is much scientific research to be done, many believe that particular spices can reduce or tre...