Herbs and Spices
Food is medicine and herbs and spices are concentrated foods that have specific physiologic effects Spices are herbs and herbs can be spices but usually not
All spices are digestants, that is they improve digestive fire which we have discussed earlier However they fall into two categories Those that give the hot quality to the GI tract and those that produce a cold quality to the digestive fire Both categories aid in digestion but the former category heats the mindbody and therefore will if used excessively will provoke Pitta
These spices with the hot quality are found at the foodsheal.com website and are best used in moderation The cooling spices are great anytime and are the foundation for spices that we would use in the kitchen
So we have discussed the value of digestive fire and now we are adding another layer to our understanding by using spices either with cooking or as a condiment at the table in the form of a churan
Herbs are another step in the natural pharmacy that Nature provides for us and come in many different packaged forms Powdered forms, in oils, as wines, in gels or juices, as roots
As powdered forms they can be used as teas and is a common way to use herbs And any entry point to effect the mindbody is used Skin massage, oral ingestion, medicated enema, nasal or eye placement with drops
So herbs have a broader range and scope of use than that of spices But spices have a specific effect for the digestive fire and therefore used around the nutritional process
But having said that, spices have strong systemic effects as well Tumeric even though used with foods commonly in the kitchen for example, has a marked antiinflammatory and immune enhancing effect
So what's your experience been with spices?
Until tomorrow To health as a Skill Love DrBill
