Which Spices Most Important For Heart Health?
The Mediterranean diet, the one that favors the consumption of vegetables, fruits, fish, legumes, olive oil, and nuts over meat and ultra-processed ones, is the diet that best takes care of the heart. But to further support its good results, all help is little.
3 Best herbs for heart health
Today we bring you 5 aromatic herbs and spices that you can happily add to your dishes and stews because they have been shown to have effects on hypertension, one of the main risk factors that put our cardiovascular health in danger. Is there a more delicious way to avoid getting sick?
1. Parsley
Including parsley in your dishes should not involve any effort because for something it is one of the most Mediterranean aromatic herbs that exist. Parsley has a good amount of carotenoid antioxidants and vitamin C, two substances that help reduce blood pressure.[1]
2. Thyme
Rosmarinic acid is one of the main active principles of this plant that you can take advantage of to make marinades, stews, roasts, and even scrambled and infusions. In animal models, ingesting rosmarinic acid has been shown to reduce blood pressure by preventing a specific enzyme (ACE), which is responsible for narrowing blood vessels, from exerting this effect.[2]
3. Cardamom
It is not an aromatic plant, it is a spice, but it is worth including it in this list of natural and gastronomic remedies against hypertension. Cardamom is used to flavor stews and rice dishes in Asian cuisine and thanks to its heart-healthy qualities it would not hurt if you copied the idea.
A study conducted in India with 20 people newly diagnosed with hypertension who were given 3 g of ground cardamom per day resulted in their blood pressure being lowered to near-normal ranges.[3]
4. Cinnamon
Not only good, but it is also an ally for the heart. Although it is not yet clear what mechanism cinnamon uses to reduce blood pressure, the fact is that laboratory tests have shown that people who regularly include it in their meals (for a minimum period of 12 weeks) have healthier blood vessels, which promotes well-balanced blood pressure.[4]
5. Ginger
In Asia, they have always revered him for being the protector of the heart and they are not lacking in reason. Ginger is capable of reducing blood pressure in different ways. On the one hand, it restricts the action of the enzyme that narrows blood vessels (an effect it shares with thyme).
On the other, it is a natural calcium antagonist that in people with hypertension prevents calcium from entering the heart cells by lowering well blood pressure.
A study conducted in China involving 4,000 people found that those who consumed 2 to 4 g per day of ginger were less likely to have hypertension.[5]
