Few people discuss this issue because spices and
herbs make up such a small part of your total meal. Be wary of exaggerated claims of certain flavorings that provide a large
percentage of your daily needs and look carefully at the quantity that you need
to eat in order to receive those benefits. For instance, a teaspoon of
cayenne pepper would provide adults with about 83% of the daily-recommended
intake of vitamin A.
One spice that does meet the vitamin A
requirement is paprika. One teaspoon has about 140% of your daily needs. A teaspoon
of thyme has about 10% of your daily needs of iron, while the same amount of
basil contributes about 7% of your daily requirements of zinc. Coriander leaf,
also known as cilantro, fulfills about 6% of your daily needs for vitamin C.
Seven teaspoons of celery seeds would provide you
with the same amount of calcium as an 8-ounce cup of milk, but there are few
recipes calling for that amount of celery seeds. Thus, one teaspoon would give
you just 4% of the daily-recommended amount of calcium. Even a teaspoon of
mustard seeds provides only 3% of the daily magnesium and phosphorus needed by
an adult.
So, if you are making a meal and you happen to
use a teaspoonful of any spice or herb, the chances are that you are preparing
more than just one helping. A teaspoon of any one spice goes a long way toward
flavoring a large quantity of food. Thus, as you can see, your actual
consumption of the vitamins mentioned is even smaller. With herbs it is a
little easier, because you can easily eat a large amount of basil or cilantro
whether in a sauce or in a salad.
If you do love to spice up your food, combining a
quarter teaspoon of this and that will add up to more than a teaspoon and a
greater variety of vitamins and nutrients that you may not get elsewhere. All
in all spices won't contribute a huge portion of the essentials to your diet,
but sprinkling them over your food is an easy way to supplement the vitamins
and nutrients that other foods provide.
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