Do you have these in your diet? If so, you may be dissapointed
Doctor Xand has revealed that the benefits you’ve read when it comes to spices may not be as beneficial as you think. Speaking to expert Laura Clark, known as The Menopause Dietitian, the pair delved into spices and their little-known benefits, urging others to add them to their diet – but to be careful.
On Dr Xand’s Con or Cure series on the BBC, the doctor pondered the question ‘do we need to add spices to our diet for our health?’. And whilst they can help, it may be more of a “con”.
Clark explained: “Spices are really appealing because they’re natural and we know that a lot of spices have powerful anti-inflammatory properties. They are rich antioxidants, and we’re all about antioxidants because we know they help to protect us against disease, and they also help fight the ageing process.”
Is turmeric worth adding to my diet?
“Turmeric is a really hyped one”, according to Dr Xand, with Clark adding that the hype may not be justified. She said: “We’re seeing this in supermarkets and cafés.
“We can buy shots of it. The active ingredient is a compound called curcumin”, she revealed.
This compound is a naturally occurring substance classified as a curcuminoid – a group of bioactive compounds. It is a yellow polyphenolic pigment derived from the turmeric plant.
She continued “The idea is that this has really powerful antioxidant properties, so I suppose it can help protect against cardiovascular disease. It’s very anti-inflammatory so there’s lots of ways in which it can potentially help us.
“But the caveat is that actually turmeric itself, only 3% of it contains this active component.” Citing studies which say turmeric is a powerhouse, she revealed that in these, many of them use a “curcumin extract which is 95% curcumin so you’re getting much more power rather than the standard space that someone might have at home.”
Dr Xand, who many may recognise from BBC Morning Live, replied: “So that leap between going ‘it seems like turmeric does have important compounds and a diet high in turmeric in general is associated with good health’ leads you down the road of going ‘therefore the supplements are good’.
“But at that point it’s an unregulated product that is definitely expensive and the evidence that will improve your health in a really specific, measurable way, is just not there and if it was, we’d give it out on the NHS.”
The dietitian replied: “Exactly, yes. I think we have to take all these things with a pinch of salt, excuse the pun, and one of the ways I suppose in which herbs and spices can come into our lives to give us variety to help our gut health.
“And salt ironically, is our biggest modifiable dietary risk factor, so actually if we can get more spices with cooking, we can then reduce the amount of salt we add then brilliant, that’s a win-win. But we cannot expect a turmeric shot to undo the amount of ultra processed food that we may end up eating later on in the day, for example.”
Do chilli and cayenne pepper have health benefits
Clark told Xand that spicy foods such as chilli and cayenne pepper “are associated with potentially boosting metabolism”. This is “because there is a heat that generated when we eat foods that contain them.”
Like many of us, Dr Xand wondered if sweating from eating spicy food is equivalent to a workout. Unfortunately, the answer isn’t that straightforward.
Clark observed that many people are eager to boost their metabolism, with the common belief that doing so can aid in weight loss and help maintain energy levels. “But context is key and the reality is that the claim that cayenne pepper can do that is not substantiated.”
Dr Xand concluded: “Having a hot curry is not the same as going to the gym, that’s a con. That’s good. We are clear about that.”
Is ginger good for me?
Highlighting “there’s lots of medical literature on it” and “there seems to be very tantalising health potential for it”, Dr Xand asked the expert whether it’s worth having at all.
According to the dietitian: “It definitely helps our digestion in some way. It also has anti-informative properties, but again, to get to the level of ginger that’s going to really have these therapeutic benefits, you need to be having quite a lot and that might not be very practical as a number one solution for how we’re going to improve our health.”
Concluding their health segment, Dr Xand summarised: “The bottom line is, by all means added spices to your meal, it will allow you to cut down on the salt, it will probably be good for your gut, it may all be good for your health in general, but that isn’t the only or the most powerful way to affect your health.”
Clark replied: “Absolutely. They are a piece of the puzzle, and like I always say, we have to look at the bigger picture.”
You can watch Dr Xand’s Con or Cure – Series 2: Episode 14 via BBC iPlayer here.