Black Pepper Health Benefits

Black Pepper is very famous spice among many spices and always a pinch of black pepper is added to almost evry type of recipe.Apart from being on table with salt and giving taste to dishes, Black Pepper also offers many health benefits to our body.It has been discovered more than 4,000 years back along the Malabar Coast of south India, now Kerala.It was very costly affair to use Black Pepper in cooking and only rich can afford this.After the Middle Ages, black pepper was exported to Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa from India.

Black pepper comes from the berries of the pepper plant. Black pepper, green pepper and white peppercorns are actually the same fruit (Piper nigrum); the difference in their color is a reflection of varying stages of development and processing methods. 

Black pepper have a strong pungent flavor that comes to them from volatile-oils, such as piperine. In case of ground peppercorns, these volatile oils may disappear because of evaporation of these compounds if kept open in the air for extended periods.Black pepper is an excellent source of manganese and vitamin K, a very good source of copper and dietary fiber, and a good source of iron, chromium, and calcium.

Freshly ground Black Pepper is always preferred on Salads or Soups.Many good Black Pepper Crusher are available in market , some are battery operated or some are wooden.Freshly Ground has all essential components in Black pepper and avoid from evaporation.

Health Benefits of Black Pepper

1.Helps in Digestion

The piperine content of black pepper causes it to be an excellent digestive. It energizes the taste buds to signal the stomach to create more hydrochloric acid. This particular acid is important to digest proteins along with other foods within the stomach.

2.Helps in weight Loss

It encourages sweating and urination and is also a powerful way to eliminate excessive water as well as harmful toxins through the body.Black  pepper is wonderful in helping the appropriate ingestion of food.

3.Helps in relieving Gas

Black pepper is excellent to ease discomfort brought on because of flatulence as well as colicky pain. Including pepper in your meals rather than chili powder may help reduce flatulence.

4.Controls Heart rate and Blood Pressure

Black peppercorns contain a good amount of minerals like potassium, calcium, zinc, manganese, iron, and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure.

5.Cancer Protection

This spice also contains Vitamin C, Vitamin A, flavonoids, carotenes and other anti-oxidants that neutralize the harmful free radicals in your body thereby protect you from cancer.

6. Anti-depressant

Black pepper is actually a natural anti-depressant. Piperine contained in black pepper serves as an anti-depressant and energizes the nervous system. As a result of that, the cognitive capacity is improved

7.Antioxidant and antibacterial effects

The anti-bacterial property of black pepper helps you to combat infections as well as insect bites. An antioxidant just like pepper can easily avoid or even repair the damage brought on by the free radicals and therefore assist to avoid cancer, cardiovascular diseases as well as liver problems.

8.Clears Skin

Apart from a great way to help you sweat and release all the toxins from your skin, it acts a great exfoliant.

9.Clears up a stuffy nose

Due to its antibacterial properties, black pepper is an effective natural remedy to cure cough and cold. Additionally, the warm and spicy flavour of this spice helps loosen phlegm and relieves a stuffy nose.

Bay Leaf Health Benefits

Bay leaf , often used in Kitchen has lots of health benefits for diabetes,heart health and many more.Bay leaves are the leaves collected from the shrub. The leaves have been used as spice since ancient times. They are native to India and are widely found. They have spread to other parts of Asia and the Mediterranean region over time.True bay leaf is scientifically known as Laurus nobilis.However, bay leaves have been a part of culinary and medicinal culture for thousands of years, dating back at least to Roman times.

The uses of bay leaves including grinding the leaves into a spice to flavor soups and stews, but the leaves are most commonly added in whole form as a flavoring for certain Italian dishes and Indian Recipes.Although extracts of bay leaves have numerous medical applications for topical application. It is also a popular element of aromatherapy and herbal treatments for various skin and respiratory conditions.

Health Benefits of Bay Leaf

1.Bay leaves have a very strong effect on the gastrointestinal system, both stimulating urination as a diuretic, which decreases the toxicity of the body.

2.Researchers found new ways to traet treat cancer.The extract of Bay leaf may help kill cancer cells by assisting apoptosis, or programmed cell death.

3.The spice contains many notable plants derived compounds, minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health.

4.Take 10-15 leaves of fresh, washed briefly and then boiled in 3 cups water until the remaining 1 cup only. Once cool then strain the leaves boiled water and drink well at night. Do it regularly to cholesterol and diabetes speedy recovery.

5.When the essential oil of bay leaves is extracted, it can be mixed into a salve and applied to the chest to help alleviate various respiratory conditions.

6.Linalool is often associated with thyme and basil, but it is also present in bay leaves and can help to lower the level of stress hormones in the body, especially when used in aromatherapy.

7.Bay leaves have been directly connected with improved insulin receptor function and regulated blood sugar levels.

Satety Tip
“bay leaf” is a commonly used term that applies to many different plants around the world;to achieve all of the health benefits listed above you find true bay leaf, derived from the laurel tree, with the scientific name Laurus nobilis.Other varieties can actually be toxic when consumed, so be certain that you’re getting the real thing!

Basil Health Benefits

Basil herb is known as king of herbs.It is one of the ancient and popular herbal plants with many health benefits.It is said as holy herb in many cultures all around the world.Most commonly known as “Tulsi” in India, the basil plant is a leafy herb belonging to the mint family.The leaves of this plant are edible and are used as flavoring agents due to their rich fragrance.From busting stress to clearing your skin, this herb has some serious mind-body benefits.If a kitchen has only a few herbs in its possession , basil will likely be one of them. Its fragrant essence combines well with rosemary and thyme.Basil plants are easy to maintain indoors and out.

List of Indian Spices

Basil / Tulsi has great significance for mankind, not only because of its culinary uses but also due to its medicinal properties.Holy basil leaves have been widely used in Ayurveda since thousands of years. This herb is even mentioned in the “Charaka Samhita”, an ancient Ayurvedic text due to its excellent healing properties.Tulsi leaves considered as great remedy for cough.Throughout history, ancient cultures have used herbal remedies to prevent and treat illness and disease. Basil is just one example of the wide range of medicinal flora historically used in plant-based tinctures, compresses, syrups and ointments.

Basil is either an excellent or very good source of all of these nutrients and vitamins. There are many other nutrients, minerals and vitamins present in basil that are not listed here such as omega-3 fatty acid and vitamin C.

How to preserve Basil Leaves

To dry basil leaves, warm your oven to 140 degrees while placing a single layer of basil leaves on a baking sheet. Turn off the oven and pop in your pan for 20 minutes (you don't want them to actually bake). Remove the pan, cool the leaves, and store immediately in airtight bottles or zip-lock bags, away from sunlight.

Health Benefits of Basil

1.Basil leaves have antiseptic properties and hence, used in the treatment of ulcers, cuts and wounds.

2.The antibacterial nature of basil is linked to its volatile oils (essential oils) such as: estragole, linalool, cineole, eugenol, sabinene, myrcene, and limonene.Essential oil of basil, obtained from its leaves, has demonstrated the ability to inhibit several species of pathogenic bacteria that have become resistant to commonly used antibiotic drugs.

3.Being rich in phytonutrients and healing oil, basil leaves are effective in curing malarial and dengue fevers.

4.Basil leaves form good germicidal and a natural disinfectant that protects the body against all types of viral and bacterial infections.

5.Basil leaves are effective in alleviating coughing and colds. Chewing fresh leaves or drinking a tea of dried basil leaves can calm coughing and relieve cold and flu.

6.Vitamin K in basil is essential for production of clotting factors in the blood and plays a vital role in the bone strengthening and mineralization.

7.Basil leaves are an excellent source of iron. It fresh leaves carry 3.17 mg/100 g (about 26% of RDA) of iron. Iron, being a component of hemoglobin inside the red blood cells, is one of the chief determinants of oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood.

8.Basil also provides vitamin A, which contains  beta-carotenes, powerful antioxidants that protect the cells lining a number of numerous body structures, including the blood vessels, from free radical damage. This helps prevent cholesterol in  blood from oxidizing, helping to prevent atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and stroke.

9.Being rich in vitamin A, basil leaves play an important role in eye health. You can soak a few basil leaves in water and wash your eyes with them every morning and before going to bed to prevent conjunctivitis, swelling, inflammations, boils and other infections.