Spice Apothecary - Blending and Using Common Spices for Everyday Health

Culinary spices are more than just flavorful aromatics for our food - they're essential medicine for the body. Clinical herbalist and nutritionist Bevin Clare explores the health-boosting properties of 19 spices you can find at the store or already have in your kitchen. As you learn about their beneficial properties and how to determine appropriate dosage, you'll find easy ways to incorporate medicinal quantities into cooking, whether you're using fresh spices or dried spice blends that support your specific wellness needs.

List of contents

Preface: The Medicine of Spices
Chapter 1: Our Connection to Spices
  The Global Spice Trade
  Understanding the Plants
  Plant Families
Chapter 2: How Medicinal Spices Work
  Spices in Our Diet
  Phytochemical Powerhouses
  Research on Medicinal Spices
  Spices and Disease Prevention
  Safety Practices
  Spice Synergy
  To Cook or Not to Cook
Chapter 3: Creating Your Spice Apothecary
  Fresh vs Dried
  Buying
  Storing
  The Daily Dose
  19 Spices for Everyday Use
  Medicinal Use and Dosage
Chapter 4: Using Spices to Support Health Goals
  Bolster Immune Protection and Defense
  Healthy Connections: Skin, Bones, and Joints
  Create Calm and Focus
  Strengthen Digestion
  Balance Flow for Kidney Health
  Support a Healthy Heart
  Breathe Easy for Respiratory Health
  Spices for Specific Health Concerns
Chapter 5: Recipes
  A Little Spice Every Day
  Blending Spices
  Dried Spice Blends
  Measuring in Parts
  Curries
  Fresh Herb and Spice Recipes
  Pesto Power!
Appendix: A Health Care Practitioner's Guide to Using Medicinal Spices
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Resources
Metric Conversion Chart
Index

About the author

Bevin Clare is the author of Spice Apothecary. She is a clinical herbalist and licensed nutritionist, a professor of clinical herbalism at the Maryland University of Integrative Health, and the president of the American Herbalists Guild. She has studied herbal medicine around the world and travels globally to teach about herbal medicine and nutrition. Clare finds spices to be central to the food and medicine practices of her family, with whom she lives in Maryland. Find her online at www.bevinclare.com.

Summary

Find natural remedies for your ailments in your very own spice cabinet with the help of this cooking guide full of revitalizing tips.

Spices are universally recognized as a source of flavor and aromatics, but in cultures around the world, these plant parts have a long history as source of medicine. In Spice Apothecary, author Bevin Clare combines her training in herbalism and nutrition to inspire a return to the kitchen spice cabinet for better health and healing. 

Focusing on 19 common culinary spices that are easy to source and prized for their flavor, this practical guide highlights each spice’s role in supporting wellness goals and delivers creative and impactful ways to incorporate key health-boosting spices into everyday life. Boost your immune system, support kidney function, clear out your respiratory system—and of course, use the leftover spices in tasty dips, soups, sauces, and even sweets that deliver flavor and healing. 

Foreword

Spice up home cooking and support good health with this guide to using 19 common culinary spices — alone and in specialty blends — to address wellness needs, from improved digestion and kidney function to mental clarity and stronger bones.

Additional text

"If you are in tune with using food as medicine, Spice Apothecary will earn a prized place on your shelves. In it, Bevin Clare summarizes the healing properties that are inherent to various plants and traditional remedies within many different cultures. A more detailed exploration of the health-boosting qualities of some common spices follows, with simple recipes to easily incorporate them into your daily diet." — Foreword Reviews

“The perfect guide to using spices for everyday wellness and radiant good health, Spice Apothecary provides a detailed and thorough account of the medicinal properties of common spices and the best ways to incorporate them into our daily diets.  Important information not normally found in other books — such as recommended dosage, specific medicinal uses, clinical applications, safety issues, as well as an abundance of delicious, well-spiced recipes — make this an excellent reference for everyone interested in good health and good food.” — Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and author

“Drawing on her years of practice as an herbalist, Bevin Clare invites us to reconsider the healing powers of common and exotic spices from all over the world. Mixing two parts culinary know-how with one part herbal wisdom and a pinch of science, she creates a recipe for restoring spices to their rightful role in shaping our health!”  — Patricia Kyritsi Howell, RH (AHG)
 
“Spice Apothecary is a beautifully woven collection of stories, recipes, and practical guidance for incorporating spices into your daily life. No other resource provides such detailed and accessible information about how to use spices therapeutically as part of a healthy diet.” — K. Camille Freeman, herbalist and licensed nutritionist

“I love the affordable and delicious approach of eating medicinal herbs in your daily cuisine. Bevin Clare’s creative spice blends and recipes for using them will make you rethink your spice cabinet!” — Maria Noël Groves, RH (AHG), clinical herbalist at Wintergreen Botanicals and author of Body into Balance and Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies

“Spice Apothecary is an easy-to-use, beautifully illustrated guide that will have you cooking with culinary spices for your health more often.” — David Winston, RH(AHG), DSc (HC), coauthor of Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief  
 
“Bevin Clare’s expert guidance shows you how to use healing spices with confidence, to add evocative flavor to your life and powerfully support your health.” — Rosalee de la Forêt, author of Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients into Foods and Remedies That Heal

Product details

• Authors: Bevin Clare
• Publisher: Workman Publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 23.06.2020
• EAN: 9781635860832
• ISBN: 978-1-63586-083-2
• No. of pages: 176
• Subjects: Guides > Spirituality > Esoterics; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Holistic medicine; HEALTH & FITNESS / Herbal Medications, MEDICAL / Alternative & Complementary Medicine, complementary medicine, Complementary therapies, healing and health