Lee Anne Dobbins - Healing Herbs and Spices: The Most Popular Herbs And Spices, Their Culinary and Medicinal Uses and Recipes to Use Them In

From The Healing Foods Series:

Healing Herbs & Spices

Health Benefits of Popular Herbs & Spices Plus Over 70 Recipes To Use Them In

More Healing Foods Books By This Author:

Healthy Smoothie Recipes - Healthy Herbal Smoothies That Are Nutritious, Delicious and Easy to Make

Mood Boosting Foods and Mood Boosting Recipes - Delicious foods that help improve your mood and attitude.

Healing Desserts - Guilt Free Desserts Made Healthier With Healing Foods, Herbs and Spices

Anti-Aging Herbs - Top Anti Aging Foods And How To Improve Your Health With Recipes That Use Them

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Table Of Contents

The information included in this book is for educational purposes only and is not meant to be a substitute for seeking the advice of a health care professional. This information is not meant to replace modern medicines or medical treatments. The author and publisher make no claims as to the ability of the herbs and spices listed in this book to cure or treat you of any ailment known to man. Before using and herbs or spices, you should consult your doctor.

The author and publisher has made their best efforts to ensure the information in this book is accurate, however, they make no warranties as the accuracy or completeness of the contents herein and cannot be held responsible for any errors, omissions or dated material. The information given in this book may not be suitable for your situation and you should consult a professional before trying any remedies or recipes listed in this book. The publisher and author assume no responsibility for any outcome resulting in applying the information found in this book, either through self care or under the care of a health care professional. Neither the publisher or author shall be liable for any damages including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages. If you have health concerns, talk to a qualified professional first.

Copyright (c) 2012 Lee Anne Dobbins. All Rights Reserved
Dedication

This book is dedicated to my mother in law Mildred "Mod" Dowse because she introduced me to the healing benefits of food. I hope I can be as active, vivacious and healthy as you are!

Introduction

I'd never been introduced to herbs or spices in my youth, so it seems odd that I would be writing a book about them now, much less one loaded with recipes!

My mother never really used spices, I think she might have had some oregano and maybe some cinnamon in the back of the cabinet but even those were rarely used. My childhood comfort foods were mostly meat and potato dishes with very little zip in the way of spices but still delicious and comforting.

Up until I was in my mid 30s I had no idea that what you ate could affect your health. It wasnt until my mother-in-law lent me the book Fit For Life by Harvey & Marilyn Diamond that I realized the profound affect foods could have on you. Reading that book started a life long journey into learning about food, herbs and spices and how to use them for health and cooking.

This book includes some of the more popular herbs and spices in use today. Inside you will find out how important these can be to your health and I hope you will realize, like I did, that adding them to your everyday cooking can greatly affect the way you feel both mentally and physically.

This isnt a book about healthy eating though, I wrote it so that you could be aware of how some of these everyday herbs and spices can improve your health and included the recipes as a way for you to see how you can easily get more of them into your diet.

Although many of the recipes are healthy for you, I have also included some of my favorites that probably arent so healthy but are still a good way to add these healing herbs and spices to your diet.

I hope you enjoy this book and I hope that you will leave me a review on Amazon to let me know what you think. Im interested in the good and the bad and I really appreciate you taking the time to leave one!

To your health!

Lee Anne Dobbins

Preface

If it wasnt for herbs and spices, the new world might never have been discovered.

We take them for granted now, but back in the 1400s spices were a big deal. Most of the expeditions revolved around bringing spices back to Europe where they were quite expensive and highly sought after.

Europe didnt really have any spices that grew natively so most of the spices were imported from Africa and Asia. The Venetian Republic in Italy had a monopoly on the spice trade. As you can imagine, there was a lot of money in spices so finding new trade routes was highly desirable for all European countries and this is actually what Columbus was after when he discovered America.

Spices have been used since 50,000 BC and have been connected with magic, medicine, religion, preservation and, of course, flavoring food. While they arent as coveted or expensive as they once were, spices still play an important role in many cultures today in both the areas of healing and cooking.

Herbs & Spices And Your Health

Once you take a good look at the health benefits of herbs and spices youll see that its no accident that they are traditionally included in most dishes because most of the herbs and spices help with various digestive issues in addition to other health problems.

As you probably already know, herbs and spices have been used since ancient times for medicinal purposes and they are reputed to be able to help heal everything from bee stings to gout to cancer. In fact, many of the medicines we have today are based on compounds found in these herbs.

Sadly, there have not been a lot of clinical trials to study the effects of herbs on various illness so there isnt a lot of proof out there as to whether these work well or not. The healing benefits listed in this book come from common knowledge of ancient healing but, when I could find it, I have listed studies from modern medicine which help support these healthy benefits.

Most herbs and spices are perfectly safe to use in food amounts so theres no reason not to try to get more of them by using them more in your cooking. If you focus on certain herbs and spices that are reputed to heal health problems that you are experiencing, you just might find your health improving. That being said, some herbs and spices can have an adverse effect on medicines you may be taking or on illnesses you may currently have, so you will want to consult with your doctor before you add any new herbs or spices into your diet.

Herbs & Spices And Your Cooking

Herbs and spices add zip to your food and without them, most dishes would be bland and flavorless. There are many ways to use them and lots of spices come in dried form for convenience but you will find that using them fresh is usually preferred because thats where youll get the most flavor as well as health benefits.

In this book Ive listed 80 of the most popular herbs and spices that you might want to consider including as part of your culinary regimen. You will find that most of the recipes include more than one spice, so you will be able to get a variety of spices in each meal quite easily.

Of course, there are many more spices and herbs to be explored than listed in this book. Ive only included the most common ones. Ones that you can find easily and wont have to make trips to a specialty store for. These are the ones that you will use most of all. But if you get bored with these, you can always branch out and explore to find more wonderful herbs and spices you can use for cooking and healing.

Now, onto the spices and herbs!

ALLSPICE