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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements for Seniors
Senior Citizens May Live Longer, Healthier by
Spicing Up Their Lives
Expert offers tips on adding herbs and spices for a
better diet in 2007
 January 2, 2007 There are probably few senior
citizens in America that made resolutions for the new year that did not
include something that is beneficial to their health and longevity. A
researcher at the University of Michigan is offering some tips that
could be helpful to seniors in eating healthier using more herbs and
spices. She provides ten tips to add "spice" to your life in 2007. For
example, to fight aging she says eat rosemary, one of natures most
powerful antioxidants and thought to help with memory.
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Nutrition, Vitamins & Supplements |
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Many of us will make the resolution to eat
healthier this year, adding more fruits and vegetables, and less salt
and fat, to our diet. But if you really want to spice up health and
those healthy foods try adding a dash of basil and oregano, or a few
cloves of garlic to your diet too.
Using more herbs and spices and fewer traditional
seasonings like sugar, salt and fat, can help to improve the overall
health benefits and flavor of the foods we eat every day, says
Suzanna Zick, N.D., M.P.H., a naturopathic physician and researcher at
the University of Michigan Health System.
Adding herbs and spices can help you maintain a
healthy weight. Plus, they can help prevent certain cancers, and even
lower blood pressure, control blood sugar and improve cardiovascular
health.
To help add a dash of spice to your life in 2007,
Zick offers these tips for picking the best spices for your overall
health.
Zicks 10 tips for spicing up your health in
2007
Instead of salt, use herbs. Common herbs
like oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley and garlic can really bring out
the natural flavors in a meal. Zick recommends replacing salt with a
tasty combination of basil and oregano on food.
Use fresh garlic for maximum benefit.
Garlic appears to help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. For
maximum benefit, you need to have about three medium cloves of garlic
per day. Dry garlic or garlic left out too long, lose their healthy
benefits, says Zick.
Fight aging: Eat rosemary. Rosemary is one
of natures most powerful antioxidants, says Zick. Its also thought to
help with memory, and research is currently underway to determine
rosemarys potential cancer-prevention properties.
Basil, oregano and rosemary can help fight
colds. Since these three herbs contain strong essential oils, Zick
says they potentially can fight against colds and flu. All three are
powerful antioxidants as well, she notes.
Treat chronic coughs with thyme. The
health benefits of thyme are unique. It has been traditionally used to
treat coughs, even whooping cough. Thyme is often drunk as a tea, she
says.
Got back pain? Eat curry. Research has
shown that the substance commonly found in turmeric a common, bright
red spice added to curry mixes has known anti-inflammatory properties.
The substance, curcumin, works in a very similar way to non-steroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs, Zick says.
Fight cancer: Eat more curry. In addition
to its anti-inflammatory properties, research on curcumin has also shown
it to shrink pre-cancerous lesions known as colon polyps. Zick says the
amount needed for its health benefits is unclear, she suggests including
a generous helping of curry or turmeric in a meal.
Lower your blood pressure with warming
spices. These include ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, pepper,
cayenne pepper and others. These can make a person feel warm because
they bring blood from the center of the body to the skin. This disperses
blood throughout the body more evenly, which may decrease blood
pressure, according to Zick.
Soothe your aching tummy with ginger.
Ginger contains gingerols, which decrease oxidative products in the
digestive tract that cause nausea. The key is to eat real ginger and not
things flavored artificially like many ginger-ales, in order to reap the
benefits, Zick says.
Reduce the sugar, add the spice. If you
need to cut back on sugar, Zick suggests adding spices like cinnamon and
nutmeg to your sweet snacks instead of sugar. For instance, if you buy
unsweetened applesauce, add cinnamon to give it an extra kick.
For more information, visit these Web sites:
>>
UMHS Complimentary and
Alternative Medicine
>>
U-M Comprehensive Cancer
Center: Ginger FAQ
>>
UMHS Healing Foods
Pyramid: Seasonings
>>
Natural Medicines
Comprehensive Database
Original report written by Jessica Soulliere
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