Though the health benefits of spices are well documented, there are a few that have so many healing and restorative powers, they should be classified as super spices. And the health benefits of cloves and clove oil would easily rank towards the top of that list. If you’re looking to boost your anti-oxidant level, get some toothache relief or just enjoy some beneficial aromatherapy, cloves should be in your kitchen and your diet.
Health Benefits of Cloves: Anti Oxidant, Anti Inflammatory
We’re all aware now of the importance of anti oxidants. But did you know that of all spices, cloves have the highest levels of anti-oxidants? Whether it’s helping the body protect itself against arthritis, diabetes, cancer or heart disease, the anti-oxidant levels in cloves help you ward off sickness and disease. Now, your body produces two antioxidants on its own, superoxide dismutase and catalase. Since cloves are the best anti-oxidant, this spice actually enhances and supports the bodys natural anti-oxidants. Very cool.
Like turmeric, cloves have a high content of flavonoids, a natural anti-inflammatory ingredient. Do you have muscle ache or arthritic pain? Try rubbing some clove essential oil onto the affected area a few times a day. This will help counter inflammation and pain. Aromatherapists use clove oil to help alleviate symptoms of rheumatism, and when inhaled can help soothe respiratory ailments like colds, asthma, even bronchitis.
Health Benefits of Cloves include Eugenol
Eugenol is an anesthetic benefit of clove, and is used for toothache, sore throat and gum pain. This active ingredient is used in some mouth washes, and sore throat treatments because of its germicidal and antiseptic benefits. Eugenol is specifically known to help improve dental health, and is used in toothpastes and dental antiseptics. The health benefits of cloves toward the dentistry profession are known by all. Remember the last time you were sitting in the dentist’s chair, before getting a shot of novacaine? Your dentist rubbed your affected gum area with an anti-bacterial, helping to numb the area, and leaving your mouth tasting and smelling like fresh clove. Where would modern dentistry be without eugenol?
Health Benefits of Cloves: Too Many to Mention
Honestly, cloves are just an absolutely amazing little spice. Cloves are effectively used in many medicinal products to help cure digestive health problems. Indigestion, stomach ulcer symptoms, nausea and gastric discomfort are just a couple of ailments helped by this miracle spice. Diluted clove oil can be applied to cuts, burns, wounds and bruises because of its natural antiseptic characteristics. Benefits of clove oil can even help relieve muscle spasm when applied around the spasming area.
The eugenol in clove spice helps prevent blood clots. Mixtures of clove and sesame oils are warmed and used for earaches. There are home remedies for headache that include a combination of salt, milk and clove oil. It can be used as a massage oil, providing relief from stress and natural aromatherapy for your lungs, sinus tract and throat. Clove oil is used to eliminate bacteria, fungi and intestinal parasites. Did you know that clove oil is widely used in soap, perfumes and other hygenic products for its smell? Or that this oil can be concocted into a natural mosquito repellent that’ll work for hours?
Get Some Health Benefits of Cloves into Your Everyday Life
It’s an easy thing to incorporate some clove into your diet. We enjoy making split pea soup, and have found a few whole cloves give the soup a zestier flavor. We steep our teas with a clove or two, which not only gives the tea a better flavor, but helps the kitchen smell so good! Ground up some cloves, and sprinkle some in a rice dish. How to ground cloves? Just use a coffee grinder. Of course, you can find many recipes online that use and enhance this amazing spice in many different foods. This article is just a glimpse into the benefits of clove spice, but you can easily see how it can, and does, benefit human life in so many ways. Someone once asked in wonder if there was anything cloves cannot do? The health benefits of cloves are awesome, and will probably leave you wondering the same thing.
