Another prestigious medical journal publishes an article on the importance of spices.

Writing in the August 2006 edition of the Australian Medical Journal researchers at the University of Wollongong have added their voices to the growing number of scientists who are calling for the inclusion of more culinary herbs and spices in our diets. They argue that, while research has yet to show that taking extra vitamin antioxidants has health benefits, other studies show that spice-based antioxidants do provide protective effects against various diseases. 

 The authors of "Health benefits of herbs and spices: the past, the present, the future",  a paper published in the August 2006 edition of the Australian Medical Journal have joined the growing list of prominent scientists who are calling for the inclusion of greater quantities of spices in our diets. In this article the scientists at the University of Wollongong in Australia make some very pertinent and important points:

"Future consideration should be given to including more explicit recommendations about their [herbs and spices] place in a healthy diet. In addition to delivering antioxidant and other properties, herbs and spices can be used in recipes to partially or wholly replace less desirable ingredients such as salt, sugar and added saturated fat in, for example, marinades and dressings, stir-fry dishes, casseroles, soups, curries and Mediterranean-style cooking"

 "At present, recommendations are warranted to support the consumption of foods rich in bioactive components, such as herbs and spices. With time, we can expect to see a greater body of scientific evidence supporting the benefits of herbs and spices in the overall maintenance of health and protection from disease."

These comments reflect many of those made in that seminal survey - Content of redox-active compounds (ie, antioxidants) in foods consumed in the United States – (published in the July 2006 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) where the authors found that spices have the highest antioxidant activity of all food types including fruit and vegetables. Commenting on the results of their survey they made the following points:

"Supplements containing ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol, or beta-carotene do not protect against oxidative stress–related diseases in most randomized intervention trials. We suggest that other redoxactive phytochemicals may be more effective and that a combination of different redox-active compounds (ie, antioxidants or reductants) may be needed for proper protection against oxidative damage".

"There are numerous antioxidants in plants consumed in the diet, including several hundred naturally occurring carotenoids and several thousand phenolic compounds, eg, benzoic acid derivatives, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, stilbenes, coumarins, lignans, and lignins. We suggest that these redox-active compounds, which cooperate in an integrated manner in plants cells, also may cooperate in animal cells. Thus, a network of antioxidants with different chemical properties may be needed for proper protection against oxidative damage."

This survey showed that of the top 20 antioxidant foods, over half are spices, namely: cloves, oregano, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, basil, mustard, paprika, chili, parsley and black pepper.

These two articles affirm the need to include significant quantities of spices in our diets as they are the best source of a variety of antioxidants and many other compounds that can help to prevent the onset of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

For those who do not like spicy foods a spice supplement , like VitaSpice provides the right mix and proportions of the most important spices.

References:

1. Health benefits of herbs and spices: the past, the present, the future.
   Medical Journal of Australia. 2006 Aug 21;185(4 Suppl):S4-24.
   Tapsell LC, Hemphill I, Cobiac L et al
   
2. Content of redox-active compounds (ie, antioxidants) in foods consumed in the United States
   American Journal of  Clinical Nutrition. 2006 Jul;84(1):95-135
   Bente L Halvorsen, Monica H Carlsen, Katherine M Phillips et al