Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?

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The 10almonds Team

A spoonful of pepper makes the… Hang on, no, that’s not right…

We know that spices are the spice of life, and many have great health-giving qualities. But…

  1. How much is the right amount?
  2. What’s the minimum to get health benefits?
  3. What’s the maximum to avoid toxicity?

That last one always seems like a scary question, but please bear in mind: everything is toxic at a certain dose. Oxygen, water, you-name-it.

On the other hand, many things have a toxicity so low that one could not physically consume it sufficiently faster than the body eliminates it, to get a toxic build-up.

Consider, for example, the €50 banknote that was nearly withdrawn from circulation because one of the dyes used in it was found to be toxic. However, the note remained in circulation after scientists patiently explained that a person would have to eat many thousands of them to get a lethal dose.

So, let’s address these questions in reverse order:

What’s the maximum to avoid toxicity?

In the case of the spices we’ll look at today, the human body generally* has high tolerance for them if eaten at levels that we find comfortable eating.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have (or may have) a medical condition that may be triggered by spices, go easier on them (or if appropriate, abstain completely) after you learn about that.

Check with your own physician if unsure, because not only are we not doctors, we’re specifically not your doctors, and cannot offer personalized health advice.

We’re going to be talking in averages and generalizations here. Caveat consumator.

For most people, unless you are taking the spice in such quantities that you are folding space and seeing the future, or eating them as the main constituents of your meal rather than an embellishment, you should be fine. Please don’t enter a chilli-eating contest and sue us.

What is the minimum to get health benefits and how much should we eat?

The science of physiology generally involves continuous rather than discrete data, so there’s not so much a hard threshold, as a point at which the benefits become significant. The usefulness of most nutrients we consume, be they macro- or micro-, will tend to have a bell curve.

In other words, a tiny amount won’t do much, the right amount will have a good result, and usefulness will tail off after that point. To that end, we’re going to look at the “sweet spot” of peaking on the graph.

Also note: the clinical dose is the dose of the compound, not the amount of the food that one will need to eat to get that dose. For example, food x containing compound y will not usually contain that compound at 100% rate and nothing else. We mention this so that you’re not surprised when we say “the recommended dose is 5mg of compound, so take a teaspoon of this spice”, for example.

Further note: we only have so much room here, so we’re going to list only the top benefits, and not delve into the science of them. You can see the related main features for more details, though!

The “big 5” health-giving spices, with their relevant active compound:

  • Black pepper (piperine)
  • Hot pepper* (capsaicin)
  • Garlic (allicin)
  • Ginger (gingerol)
  • Turmeric (curcumin**)

*Cayenne pepper is very high in capsaicin; chilli peppers are also great

**not the same thing as cumin, which is a completely different plant. Cumin does have some health benefits of its own, but not in the same league as the spices above, and there’s only so much we have room to cover today.

Black pepper

  • Benefits: antioxidant, anti-cancer, boosts bioavailability of other nutrients, aids digestion
  • Dosage: 5–20mg for benefits
  • Suggestion: ½ teaspoon of black pepper is sufficient for benefits. However, this writer’s kitchen dictum in this case is “if you can’t see the black pepper in/on the food, add more”—but that’s more about taste!
  • Related main feature: Black Pepper’s Anti-Cancer Arsenal (And More)

Hot Pepper

Garlic

  • Benefits: heart health, blood sugar balancing, anti-cancer
  • Dosage: 4–8µg for benefits
  • Suggestion: 1–2 cloves daily is generally good. However, cooking reduces allicin content (and so does oxidation after cutting/crushing), so you may want to adjust accordingly if doing those things.
  • Related main feature: The Many Health Benefits Of Garlic

Ginger

  • Benefits: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-nausea
  • Dosage: 3–4g for benefits
  • Suggestion: 1 teaspoon grated raw ginger or ½ a teaspoon powdered ginger, can be used in baking or as part of the seasoning for a stir-fry
  • Related main feature: Ginger Does A Lot More Than You Think

Turmeric

Closing notes

The above five spices are very healthful for most people. Personal physiology can and will vary, so if in doubt, a) check with your doctor b) start at lowest doses and establish your tolerance (or lack thereof).

Enjoy, and stay well!

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  • Kidney Beans vs Chickpeas – Which is Healthier?

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing kidney beans to chickpeas, we picked the chickpeas.

    Why?

    Both are great! But there’s a clear winner here today:

    In terms of macros, chickpeas have more protein, carbs, and fiber, making them the more nutrient-dense option in this category.

    In the category of vitamins, kidney beans have more of vitamins B1, B3, and K, while chickpeas have more of vitamins A, B2, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, E, and choline, taking the victory again here.

    When it comes to minerals, it’s a similar story: kidney beans have more potassium, while chickpeas have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. Another easy win for chickpeas.

    Adding up the three wins makes chickpeas the clear overall winner, but of course, as ever, enjoy either or both; diversity is good!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?

    Take care!

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  • Are You Stuck Playing These Three Roles in Love?

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The psychology of Transactional Analysis holds that our interpersonal dynamics can be modelled in the following fashion:

    The roles

    • Child: vulnerable, trusting, weak, and support-seeking
    • Parent: strong, dominant, responsible—but also often exhausted and critical
    • Adult: balanced, thoughtful, creative, and kind

    Ideally we’d be able to spend most of our time in “Adult” mode, and occasionally go into “Child” or “Parent” mode when required, e.g. child when circumstances have rendered us vulnerable and we need help; parent when we need to go “above and beyond” in the pursuit of looking after others. That’s all well and good and healthy.

    However, in relationships, often it happens that partners polarize themselves and/or each other, with one shouldering all of the responsibility, and the other willfully losing their own agency.

    The problem lies in that either role can be seductive—on the one hand, it’s nice to be admired and powerful and it’s a good feeling to look after one’s partner; on the other hand, it’s nice to have someone who will meet your every need. What love and trust!

    Only, it becomes toxic when these roles stagnate, and each forgets how to step out of them. Each can become resentful of the other (for not pulling their weight, on one side, and for not being able to effortlessly solve all life problems unilaterally and provide endlessly in both time and substance, on the other), digging in to their own side and exacerbating the less healthy qualities.

    As to the way out? It’s about self-exploration and mutual honesty—and mutual support:

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    Further reading

    While we haven’t (before today) written about TA per se, we have previously written about AT (Attachment Theory), and on this matter, the two can overlap, where certain attachment styles can result in recreating parent/child/adult dynamics:

    How To Leverage Attachment Theory In Your Relationship ← this is about understanding and recognizing attachment styles, and then making sure that both you and your partner(s) are armed with the necessary knowledge and understanding to meet each other’s needs.

    Take care!

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  • Cavolo Nero & Sweet Potato Hash

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    🎶 Sweet potato hash? It’s a seasonal smash… Catches on in a flash… Let’s do the hash 🎶

    You will need

    • 6 oz cavolo nero, tough stems removed, chopped
    • 1 large sweet potato, diced
    • 1 large red onion, finely chopped
    • 1 parsnip, grated
    • 1 small red pepper, chopped
    • 4 oz baby portobello mushrooms, chopped
    • ½ cup fresh or thawed peas
    • ¼ bulb garlic, thinly sliced
    • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
    • 2 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
    • 1 tsp dried rosemary
    • 1 tsp dried thyme (dried for convenience; fresh is also fine if you have it)
    • 1 tsp red chili flakes (dried for convenience; fresh is also fine if you have it)
    • 1 tsp ground turmeric
    • ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
    • Extra virgin olive oil

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Preheat the oven to 425℉ / 220℃.

    2) Toss the diced sweet potato in 1 tbsp olive oil, as well as the nutritional yeast, ground turmeric, black pepper, and MSG/salt, ensuring an even distribution. Roast in the oven on a lined baking tray, for 30 minutes, turning at least once to get all sides of the potato. When it is done, remove from the oven and set aside.

    3) Heat a little oil in a sauté pan or large skillet (either is fine; we’re not adding liquids today), and fry the onion, parsnip, and pepper until softened, which should take about 5 minutes (this is one reason why we grated the parsnip; the other is for the variation in texture).

    4) Add the garlic, mushrooms, herbs, and chili flakes, and cook for a further 1 minute, while stirring.

    5) Add the cavolo nero and peas, stir until the cavolo nero begins to wilt, and then…

    6) Add the roasted sweet potato; cook for about 5 more minutes, pressing down with the spatula here and there to mash the ingredients together.

    7) Turn the hash over when it begins to brown on the bottom, to lightly brown the other side too.

    8) Serve hot.

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

    Share This Post

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    A recent UK-based survey found that…

    • while nearly half of adults say dementia is the disease they fear most,
    • only a third of those thought you could do anything to avoid it, and
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    Quick test

    Can you name the 7 known risk factors?

    Please take a moment to actually try (this kind of mental stimulation is good in any case), and count them out on your fingers (or write them down), and then…

    Answer (no peeking if you haven’t listed them yet)

    The 7 known risk factors are:

    *drumroll please*

    1. Smoking
    2. High blood pressure
    3. Diabetes
    4. Obesity
    5. Depression
    6. Lack of mental stimulation
    7. Lack of physical activity

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    Did you come here from our “Future-Proof Your Brain” article? If so, you can get back to it here ← and if you didn’t, you should check it out anyway; it’s worth it😉

    Take care!

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  • Keep Inflammation At Bay

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

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    How to Prevent (or Reduce) Inflammation

    You asked us to do a main feature on inflammation, so here we go!

    Before we start, it’s worth noting an important difference between acute and chronic inflammation:

    • Acute inflammation is generally when the body detects some invader, and goes to war against it. This (except in cases such as allergic responses) is usually helpful.
    • Chronic inflammation is generally when the body does a civil war. This is almost never helpful.

    We’ll be tackling the latter, which frees up your body’s resources to do better at the former.

    First, the obvious…

    These five things are as important for this as they are for most things:

    1. Get a good diet—the Mediterranean diet is once again a top-scorer
    2. Exercise—move and stretch your body; don’t overdo it, but do what you reasonably can, or the inflammation will get worse.
    3. Reduce (or ideally eliminate) alcohol consumption. When in pain, it’s easy to turn to the bottle, and say “isn’t this one of red wine’s benefits?” (it isn’t, functionally*). Alcohol will cause your inflammation to flare up like little else.
    4. Don’t smoke—it’s bad for everything, and that goes for inflammation too.
    5. Get good sleep. Obviously this can be difficult with chronic pain, but do take your sleep seriously. For example, invest in a good mattress, nice bedding, a good bedtime routine, etc.

    *Resveratrol (which is a polyphenol, by the way), famously found in red wine, does have anti-inflammatory properties. However, to get enough resveratrol to be of benefit would require drinking far more wine than will be good for your inflammation or, indeed, the rest of you. So if you’d like resveratrol benefits, consider taking it as a supplement. Superficially it doesn’t seem as much fun as drinking red wine, but we assure you that the results will be much more fun than the inflammation flare-up after drinking.

    About the Mediterranean Diet for this…

    There are many causes of chronic inflammation, but here are some studies done with some of the most common ones:

    *Type 1 diabetes is a congenital autoimmune disorder, as the pancreas goes to war with itself. Type 2 diabetes is different, being a) acquired and b) primarily about insulin resistance, and/but this is related to chronic inflammation regardless. It is also possible to have T1D and go on to develop insulin resistance, and that’s very bad, and/but beyond the scope of today’s newsletter, in which we are focusing on the inflammation aspects.

    Some specific foods to eat or avoid…

    Eat these:

    • Leafy greens
    • Cruciferous vegetables
    • Tomatoes
    • Fruits in general (berries in particular)
    • Healthy fats, e.g. olives and olive oil
    • Almonds and other nuts
    • Dark chocolate (choose high cocoa, low sugar)

    Avoid these:

    • Processed meats (absolute worst offenders are hot dogs, followed by sausages in general)
    • Red meats
    • Sugar (includes most fruit juices, but not most actual fruits—the difference with actual fruits is they still contain plenty of fiber, and in many cases, antioxidants/polyphenols that reduce inflammation)
    • Dairy products (unless fermented, in which case it seems to be at worst neutral, sometimes even a benefit, in moderation)
    • White flour (and white flour products, e.g. white bread, white pasta, etc)
    • Processed vegetable oils

    See also: 9 Best Drinks To Reduce Inflammation, Says Science

    Supplements?

    Some supplements that have been found to reduce inflammation include:

    (links are to studies showing their efficacy)

    Consider Intermittent Fasting

    Remember when we talked about the difference between acute and chronic inflammation? It’s fair to wonder “if I reduce my inflammatory response, will I be weakening my immune system?”, and the answer is: generally, no.

    Often, as with the above supplements and dietary considerations, reducing inflammation actually results in a better immune response when it’s actually needed! This is because your immune system works better when it hasn’t been working in overdrive constantly.

    Here’s another good example: intermittent fasting reduces the number of circulating monocytes (a way of measuring inflammation) in healthy humans—but doesn‘t compromise antimicrobial (e.g. against bacteria and viruses) immune response.

    See for yourself: Dietary Intake Regulates the Circulating Inflammatory Monocyte Pool ← the study is about the anti-inflammatory effects of fasting

    Don’t Forget…

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  • How to Fall Asleep Faster: CBT-Insomnia Treatment

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    Insomnia affects a lot of people, and is even more common as we get older. Happily, therapist Emma McAdam is here with a drug-free solution that will work for most people most of the time.

    Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI)

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    We say “directly”, because chronic insomnia is usually the result of the brain becoming accustomed to the above, and thus accidentally training itself to not sleep.

    The remedy: cut the bad habit of staying in bed while awake. Lying in bed awake trains the brain to associate lying in bed with wakefulness (and any associated worrying, etc). In essence, we lie down, and the brain thinks “Aha, we know this one; this is the time and place for worrying, ok, let’s get to work”.

    So instead: if you’re in bed and not asleep within 15 minutes, get up and do something non-stimulating until you feel sleepy, then return to bed. This may cause some short term tiredness, but it will usually correct the chronic insomnia within a week.

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    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

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