3 Delicious Herbs and Spices With Powerful Health Benefits

The use of herbs and spices has been incredibly important throughout history.

Many were celebrated for their medicinal properties, well before culinary use.

Modern science has now shown that many of them do indeed carry remarkable health benefits.

Here are 3 of the world’s healthiest herbs and spices, supported by research

1. Cinnamon Lowers Blood Sugar Levels and Has a Powerful Anti-Diabetic Effect

Cinnamon is a popular spice, found in all sorts of recipes and baked goods.

It contains a compound called cinnamaldehyde, which is responsible for cinnamon’s medicinal properties (1).

Cinnamon has potent antioxidant activity, helps fight inflammation and has been shown to lower cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source).

But where cinnamon really shines is in its effects on blood sugar levels.

Cinnamon can lower blood sugar by several mechanisms, including by slowing the breakdown of carbs in the digestive tract and improving insulin sensitivity (5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source).

Studies have shown that cinnamon can lower fasting blood sugars by 10-29% in diabetic patients, which is a significant amount (9Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).

The effective dose is typically 0.5-2 teaspoons of cinnamon per day, or 1-6 grams.

You can read more about the impressive health benefits of cinnamon in this article.

Bottom Line: Cinnamon has numerous health benefits, and is particularly effective at lowering blood sugar levels.

2. Sage Can Improve Brain Function and Memory

Sage gets its name from the Latin word Salvere, which means “to save.”

It had a strong reputation for its healing properties during the middle ages, and was even used to help prevent the plague.

Current research indicates that sage may be able to improve brain function and memory, especially in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is accompanied by a drop in the level of acetylcholine, a chemical messenger in the brain. Sage inhibits the breakdown of acetylcholine (12Trusted Source).

In a 4-month study of 42 individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, sage extract was shown to produce significant improvements in brain function (13Trusted Source).

Other studies have also shown that sage can improve memory function in healthy people, both young and old (14, 15Trusted Source).

3. Peppermint Relieves IBS Pain and May Reduce Nausea

Peppermint has a long history of use in folk medicine and aromatherapy.

As is the case with many herbs, it is the oily component that contains the agents responsible for the health effects.

Many studies have shown that peppermint oil can improve pain management in irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS (16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source).

It appears to work by relaxing the smooth muscles in the colon, which relieves pain experienced during bowel movements. It also helps to reduce abdominal bloating, which is a common digestive symptom (19Trusted Source, 20).

There are also some studies showing that peppermint in aromatherapy can help fight nausea.

In a study of over 1,100 women in labor, peppermint aromatherapy caused significant reductions in nausea. It has also been shown to reduce nausea after surgery and C-section births