Do Herbs and Spices have Health Benefits?

 

 

'A growing body of epidemiological and preclinical evidence points to culinary herbs and spices as minor dietary constituents with multiple anticancer characteristics.'

They seem to have 'anti-microbial, antioxidant, and anti-tumorigenic properties'

'To date, hundreds of compounds have been identified as potential modifiers of cancer, several of which are active ingredients in herbs and spices.'

'A side-by-side comparison of the sensitivity of several bacteria to eight common antibiotics and extracts of garlic and clove found that the garlic extract displayed bactericidal activity similar to antibiotics with several Gram-negative bacteria '

'Several strains of Helicobacter species (H. pylori, H. cholecystus, H. pullorum, H. bilis, and H. hepaticus)may facilitate the invasion and progression of cancer, especially in the stomach, liver, gallbladder, and intestine. H. pylori is susceptible to several essential oils, of which cinnamon bark oil and savory oil were the most effective bactericial inhibitors'

'Of the top 50 foods with antioxidants, the top five antioxidants were dried spices (ground cloves, dried oregano, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, turmeric powder); however, compared to other categories of food products within this study, herbs and spices displayed the largest range in antioxidant capacity'

However 'it would be much more unlikely a person would consume similar volumes of herbs and spices as they would other food categories'

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771684/