Condiments with a Cure
I have a friend whose husband teases her that she would be a great cook if only she could get her meals to taste like something! You and I were created with taste buds for a few reasons—and one of them is so we can enjoy the flavors of the food we eat. But did you know that some of the seasonings that we can add to our foods can actually add to our health?
Those of you who enjoy foods which make your tongue “sizzle” a bit will be glad to learn that spicing up your food will slow down your body’s digestion of it. Adding condiments such as red, black, or cayenne pepper, chili powder and Tabasco sauce are all fine ways to slow down your digestion and spice up your health. You see, quick digestion of food causes harmful spikes in your blood sugar. Slower digestion translates into more evenly regulated sugar levels. This enables your pancreas’s insulin production to keep up with all that new sugar-based energy that’s being released into your bloodstream.
For those of you who salivate at the scent of cinnamon—congratulations! Cinnamon has been touted with lowering blood sugar levels as well. The American Diabetes Association has been proclaiming this wonderful finding for many years now. The natural supplement industry has even jumped on board releasing products such as CinSulin® to the market. (Get it–Cin namon and In sulin? They’re so clever!)
Finally, for those of you with a sweet tooth, a bit of raw honey will not only sweeten your fare, but studies show it helps boost the immune system. It has been found to have anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties as well as being a strong anti-oxidant! As an added bonus, honey has a much lower glycemic index than table sugar does, and therefore it doesn’t require as much insulin to “tamp it down” in order to maintain a healthy blood sugar level.
So, go ahead; spice up your life (and your health) today!