Spices and their Significance for our Nutrition
For hundreds of years, salt was the only seasoning known in Central Europe, leaving aside a few others. There was not always, however, enough of this mineral at everyone’s disposal. People’s understandable desire to make their food as tasty as possible led to the increased use of a multitude of spices and seasoning substances which corresponded with the continuous development of world trade.When we eat different foods and test them with our tongue and palate for their aroma and taste, we select those dishes which give us a special experience. In this way, we search for pleasurable experiences and try to renew and increase them.
We are seldom aware of the fact of how much influence the taste of our food has on our own well-being. Indeed, many of the spices and herbs used today were formerly used as remedies, and were originally only used because of their alleged or real healing properties. It was only later, that their use as seasonings were discovered and is only lately that systematic analyses has discovered the manifold mechanisms of properties found to be contained in spices. Professor Dr Glatzel of the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund, researched into the effects they have on the organs of healthy and sick people. In particular, he highlighted the fact that spices are not only stimulants but also contain elements vital to life which have a decisive influence on our well-being and performance.
As well as differentiated physiological functions, spices can also develop bactericidal or bacteriostatic properties or, intervene in oxidisation or reduction procedures. So, an established fact is that spices not only enhance the taste of our food and make it more digestible, but also that the essential oils, vitamins, minerals and trace elements they contain have a great impact and influence on many biological functions in our bodies for our good. In brief: spices are, and will remain treasures of nature, a priceless asset for human mankind.
