Culinary secret livens up your taste buds

How many of you still buy into the misconception that eating healthy means choking down bland and bitter meals?

While it’s true that green, leafy veggies and lean cuts of meat might not be as enticing on the surface…

It’s entirely false that you can’t add loads of flavor, brightness, and depth to these whole foods in a way that totally transforms your health—and leaves your taste buds craving more.

Shake, shake, shake

I’m talking about using herbs and spices in your cooking.

Indeed, one of the best things about cooking with herbs and spices is that you can’t overdo them. Meaning you can control how flavorful your meals are.

Not to mention, the more you use them in your cooking… the GREATER the health benefits!

And research out of Penn State and Texas Tech University proves this point.

Researchers recruited 71 men and women with known risk factors for heart disease.

The subjects followed the Standard American Diet (SAD), one of the greatest heart disease risk factors. (This diet is chockful of sugar, starches, and processed, packaged foods that impact heart health metrics like blood sugar, blood pressure, and triglycerides.)

Then, researchers tested the impact of three different “doses” of herbs and spices on blood pressure (BP):

• “High”—6.5 grams per day (about 1.5 teaspoons)
• “Medium”—3.2 grams per day (a little over 3/4^th of a teaspoon)
• “Low”—0.5 grams per day (about 1/10^th of a teaspoon)

Subjects consumed the herbs and spices at each “dose” for four weeks, with a two-week break in between.

Before each dosing period and during the two-week break, the researchers collected 24-hour BP readings.

And here’s what they found…

Remarkable dose-dependent response

It turns out, even just a “medium” dose of herbs and spices lowered systolic BP (the top number) over a 24-hour period.

But a “high” dose proved even more effective…

Lowering both systolic and diastolic BP!

I’d say these findings are quite remarkable. Remember, the spices were added to a poor diet—the SAD.

So, just imagine how much improvement these subjects may have achieved if they’d adopted a healthy diet full of fresh, whole foods!

Think grass-fed and -finished meat, organic poultry, seasonal produce, nuts, eggs, seeds, and more. (Check out my A-List Diet for more insight.)

At the end of the day, your dietary choices matter. And if your taste buds are craving more excitement, instead of reaching for spicy chips, extra salty fries, or double chocolate brownies…

Liven up your kitchen pantry with herbs and spices and start experimenting. Some of my personal favorites to get you started include garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and ginger.

And while you’re at it… don’t forget to check out my cooking show on YouTube, Cooking with Dr. Fred, for further inspiration.

Source:
“Four weeks of spice consumption lowers plasma proinflammatory cytokines and alters the function of monocytes in adults at risk of cardiometabolic disease: secondary outcome analysis in a 3-period, randomized, crossover, controlled feeding trial.” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2022; 115(1):61-72. Doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqab331