Spice up Your Holiday

Spices have a long history in just about every culture throughout time till about our current era; we have lost some of our knowledge from the past as to the abundance of uses of these rich plants.  From herbs and spices used for medicinal purposes to culinary flavor our history is rich.  It is time for us to reconnect with not just the culinary application of spices and herbs, but the medical application as well.  We need to be able to expand our resource knowledge that cinnamon is more than just a stick of bark that sits on the side of our hot apple cider or is ground up into apple pie.  While what I provide in this article is just a hint at the uses of these lost spices I encourage you, the reader, to delve into our history and see for yourself how you can reconnect with our roots.

 

While most of these spices and herbs can be purchased at your local coop or grown in your back yard, there are also uses and application for the essential distilled oils from these same spices.   Familiarity with essential oils comes from the fast growing aromatherapy trend, but there is little information about the quality of the plant and process to produce a high quality product.  Therefore it is necessary to have a little information about the difference between pure essential oil and synthetics.  Pure oils consist of a highly complex set of compounds ranging in the millions; compounds that are essential for the plant to defend itself against insects, environmental conditions, and disease.  Synthetics are man-made oils based off the basic compound of the intended oil and do not contain the plethora of compounds that make up a plants true nature.  The major difference between pure and synthetic oils is most noticeable with fragrance and usage.  Pure oils can often be ingested just as the plant they came from could be ingested and most can be used topically without being mixed with carrier oils.  Synthetics often only carry a portion of the plants main fragrance, cannot be ingested, and most will cause irritation or worse when used topically.  The other major difference is price.  While synthetic oils will be well within the budget, pure oils will be priced based off the difficulty and amount of plant required to produce the oil.

 

Without further ado here are your

Holiday Spices

 

Allspice: Myrtaceae, aromatic evergreen; used as a spice or condiment to curries, rice, puddings, for pickling, and for mulling wines.

 

Cinnamon: Cinnamomum zeylanicum; tropical evergreen. The inner bark used in teas, cooked fruit, pickling, honey, punches, mulled red wine. Ground cinnamon is probably the most familiar and can be added to sweet baked puddings, cooked fruit, meats, and fish. Seed oil used in perfume. Cinnamon acts as a natural antiseptic, astringent, stimulant, relief for nausea, flatulence, and diarrhea.  The essential oil can be used as an inhalant in a steam bath to help with respiratory issues or diluted with carrier oil for topical use.

 

Clove: Syzygium aromatica, tropical evergreen tree.  Clove oil and flower buds work as a powerful antiseptic, anodyne, antispasmodic, carminative, stimulant, and in the prevention of vomiting.  In the past clove oil was used in dentistry as a local anesthetic before dental procedures.  The essential oil can be used both internally and topically when combined with other ingredients and carrier oil as it can have a numbing or burning sensation.

 

Frankincense: is considered warming, relaxing, aiding in respiratory problems, aging skin, inflammation, and wounds.  The essential oil has been used as a beauty treatment for its skin health boosting properties.  The oil can be used both internally through the use of homemade capsules when mixed with olive oil and topically with or without carrier oil.  Frankincense resin can also be burned for its calming effects.

 

Ginger: Zingiber officinalis; creeping tropical perennial.  The fresh root has traditionally been used to promote sweating for fever illnesses.  Dried root has been used to combat motion sickness and morning sickness in pregnancy.  The essential oil must be combined with carrier oil for topical use for rheumatism or mixed with honey to be used internally for menstrual cramps, nausea, and flatulence.

 

Myrrh: Commiphora Molmol; bushy shrub in arid climates.  Acts as an antiseptic, healing specifically for wounds, is anti-inflammatory, aids in digestion, loss of appetite, catarrh, bronchitis, and an immune stimulant.  Research shows it can lower blood cholesterol levels, though it tastes unpleasant.  Essential oils are distilled from the resin and are best used topically, or the resin can be burned.

 

Nutmeg: Myristica fragrans, tender evergreen tree. Great when added to sweet and savory dishes especially cheese dishes; other uses include adding flavor to mead, milk drinks, liqueurs, and cordials. In small quantities, can aid in digestion and improve appetite.  Studies have proven it to be successful as a treatment for Crohn’s Disease.  Similar to clove oil, nutmeg oil can be used to dull toothache.  For tooth or gum pain a few drops on a cotton swab will suffice.  Essential oil can also be used topically with carrier oil for muscular pains.

 

Sage: Salvia officinalis; a variety of low to tall perennial plants. A great addition when combined with onions for poultry stuffing, best cooked with rich fatty meats: pork, duck, sausage. Dried leaves placed among linens discourage insects, an astringent when used as a facial steam, a conditioning rinse that can darken gray hair, a whitening rub for teeth, and a mouthwash. Aids in digestion, is an antiseptic, antifungal, and combats diarrhea.  When used as a tea or wine acts as a nerve and blood tonic; reduces sweating, sooths coughs and colds, may be used to treat irregular menstruation and menopause.  The essential oil can be used internally or topically.

 

 

To purchase any of these oils from a Highly Qualified and Pure Essential Oil company please visit: https://www.youngliving.org/alikap

 

Resources:

Bremness, Leslie (1988). Complete book of herbs, the.

Ody, Penelope (1993). Complete Medicinal Herbal, the. DK Publishing: NY, New York.