herbs — Wine & Wellness Wednesday — Make One Change Health Coaching

Several weeks ago I wrote a #winewellnesswednesday post on how much I love thyme, with gratuitous and unlovely punctuation for emphasis.

I love basil, too, but not quite as much as I love thyme. Although I do love having each of these herbs in my garden, and walking outside to pick fresh herbs is a wonderful thing!

Of course, being me, I went looking for the health benefits of adding basil to recipes and generally how it’s good for us. As with thyme, what I found surprised me a bit.

Basil is high in vitamin K, which is important for bone and blood health. Two tablespoons of chopped fresh basil provide over 25% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin K! (That is a lot of basil, honestly…) You’ll also get vitamin A, magnesium, and manganese. (Be careful, if you’re taking a blood thinner; you don’t want to get too much vitamin K.) The essential oils in basil may have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It may help manage blood sugar in patients with diabetes. Basil was historically used for respiratory & digestive problems, epilepsy, insect & snake bites, fevers, migraines, and mental fatigue. Even today, you can rub fresh basil leaves on your skin to repel biting insects, or crush the leaves and rub the mixture onto bug bites for relief from the itching. When cooking, using it fresh is best. If you grow basil in your herb garden, pinch the flowers back to encourage growth and flavor in the leaves. Or you can plant more basil than you think you’ll use, and leave the flowers on some of your plants to make butterflies and bees happy!

Cheers! Here’s to your (herbal) health!

It may have already become obvious but just in case, here’s a thing about me: I love to cook. I love playing with recipes, and I love preparing (and eating) good food. Even better is when that good food is good for us!

I started writing #winewellnesswednesday posts about the health benefits of some of my favorite ingredients, such as ginger and colorful bell peppers. I then thought I’d do some research on health benefits of herbs & spices, because I enjoy using those in my cooking as well. I found something of an overwhelming amount of information! For this week I’m going to narrow it down to herbs & spices that are believed to combat inflammation, because it is something that many of us deal with regularly, and reducing it will help improve health in multiple ways.

Cinnamon contains antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation. Turmeric contains curcumin, another antioxidant. Ginger can reduce inflammation as well. Cloves, rosemary, sage, and oregano are more spices and herbs that can be beneficial in fighting against inflammation.

So what can you do? Fortunately, whether you love to cook or don’t, it’s easy to add herbs & spices to your menu! Add cinnamon and clove to oatmeal; add oregano to pasta sauces (and it’s probably already in those recipes); toss some ginger in when making a stir fry out of colorful veggies! Cheers! :) Here's to your health...