Continuing our recent series on food and aging, I want to turn this time to the use of good quality herbs and spices in cooking. Our caregivers are often the main dietary gateway for our clients, and I heartily encourage their use of fragrant, colorful herbs and spices whenever possible in foods.  There are three main reasons:

1) Use of seasonings makes food more flavorful, enjoyable and interesting; I’ve already written about why I think our mainstream food sources have become lacking in flavor… and savor. Where appetites are low or nutrition has been poor, the more yummy, healthy food we can offer, the greater the benefits (including pleasure) to the client.
2) Herbs and spices are intensely nourishing. Remember: high flavor and/or fragrance means high nutrition; the very tastes and smells of food that we savor are a signal from our bodies that the right nutrition is present. Pound for pound, plant-based seasonings are some of the most nutritionally-dense foods we can find. Use them every day — and with a liberal hand — for best results.

3) Culinary herbs and spices have amazing health benefits.  Without being prescriptive (that is, without using specific ingredients to address specific health problems, which would be outside of the type of care we can offer), we can make sure we regularly use a maximum variety of flavors to help give bodies, minds and emotions.  Regular use of herbs and spices can stimulate memory, reduce inflammation, balance blood sugar, the metabolism, and blood pressure, reduce pain, improve cardiovascular health, normalize immune function, improve moods, and reduce cancer risks. A variety of these actions can be found among all plant foods, but herbs and spices can provide the most powerful punch.

A first place to start is to make sure the herbs and spices being used are fresh and of good quality.  So often, the ingredients in the spice drawer are many years too old.  If an herb or spice don’t smell bright and full, or look colorful, compost it.  If the smell is gone, so is the flavor — why bother using it?

Herbs and spices bought at the supermarket an be expensive and may come in larger sizes than might be called for.  Instead, drop by a health food store that carries an array of bulk seasonings. Make sure the place is a busy one where their stock turns over fairly quickly, and where they store these flavorings in tight containers. This way, you can buy a very small amount of an herb or spice for usually very little money. And what a fun and frangrent trip it can be!

Don’t know where to start? I find the Penzy’s Spices (http://www.penzeys.com) online or paper catalog a fast and fun education in many different types of flavorings used around the world… and it includes recipes, too.

Now, go forth and have a delicious day!