Dietary guidelines for health - where do herbs and spices fit?

Authors

Linda C. Tapsell, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

24351

Publication Details

Tapsell, L. C. (2008). Dietary guidelines for health - where do herbs and spices fit?. Nutrition Today, 43 (4), 132-137.

Abstract

Food sustains the human body by delivering components to participate in its processes, systems, and composition. Aligning the study of food components to those of human systems enables a mechanistic understanding of the effects of foods.

The impact of food is complex in that it delivers multiple molecules that impact on these pathways at a number of different levels, and this effect is gradually being exposed with detailed mechanistic studies using food extracts.

Specific reference should be given to herbs and spices as a separate food category in dietary guidelines because

* a very high concentration of phenolics in herbs may increase the antioxidant capacity of the meal with just a few grams of the food.

* there is supportive evidence of mechanisms by which compounds in herbs and spices may afford protection against oxidative and inflammatory mechanisms.

* herbs and spices are plant foods, aligned to food groups such as fruits, vegetables, and seeds but are used differently in the culinary sense.