Spice-Rich Diet Reduces Effects of High-Fat Meals

When one eats meals high in fat, your triglycerides are increased significantly. The more this happens, the more susceptible you are to cardiac disease. However, there is some good news when it comes to antioxidants and high fat foods.

In research supported by McCormich Science Institute and The National Institues of Health, it has been discovered that by adding certain spices to high-fat meals, there is actually a reduction in the triglyceride response by as much as 30%. This is in comparison to meals that are prepared with no spices added at all.

By cooking meals for men 30-65 years of age but overweight, the researchers placed to tablespoons of various culinary spices into each of the meal servings. They then drew blood samples from each of the participants each half hour for a three hour period.

When a blend of antioxidant spices were added, the antioxidant activity had about a 13% increase while the insulin response was decreased by around 20%.

There are quite a few in the science arena who believe that heart disease, diabetes and arthritis are, in part, given more significance through what is known as “oxidative stress.” Antioxidant spices help reduce oxidative stress and when they do, they also reduce chronic diseases.

When about 2 tablespoons of antioxidant spices were added to meals, the increase of stomach upset did not occur as was originally suspected.

The spices that were used in the study included cinnamon, oregano, rosemary, turmeric, cloves, black pepper, garlic powder and paprika. The spices were selected because of their known antioxidant potency.