Your kitchen pharmacy-How common culinary herbs and spices can help you feel better By Rebekah L. Cowell
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/cowell122.html
In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrients and medication we needed from the food we ate. However, our diets and the foods available to us have changed in the past century, so that eating healthily can be a challenge. Most of us have a spice rack filled with seasonings we grab in a hurry, but what do we know about these ancient herbs and their medicinal powers?
Understanding the importance of adding oregano or basil to your spaghetti sauce, not as flavor but as a digestive aid is just one of the keys to turning your kitchen into the pharmacy it was meant to be.
Kelly M. Shattuck, a Certified Herbalist based in North Carolina, says before health food stores made specific herbs such as valerian root readily available for medicinal healing, individuals relied on their culinary herbs to play a very important pharmaceutical role.
"The great thing about culinary herbs," said Shattuck, "is that ---CONTINUED---
Topics Include:
Brewing herbal teas
Your medicine cabinet
- Basil
Bay leaves
Black pepper
Cayenne
Cinnamon
Cloves
Fennel
Sage
Garlic
Ginger
Nutmeg
Oregano
Peppermint
Rosemary
Thyme