Although the health benefits of spices are well documented, there are some that have so many healing and restorative powers that they should be classified as super spices. And the health benefits of clove and clove oil would easily be at the top of that list. Whether you’re looking to boost your antioxidant status, relieve a toothache, or simply indulge in beneficial aromatherapy, clove needs to be in your kitchen and diet.
Health benefits of cloves: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory
We are all now aware of the importance of antioxidants. But did you know that of all the spices, cloves have the highest levels of antioxidants? Whether it’s helping the body protect itself against arthritis, diabetes, cancer, or heart disease, the levels of antioxidants in clove help you ward off illness and disease. Now, your body produces two antioxidants on its own, superoxide dismutase and catalase. Since cloves are the best antioxidant, this spice actually enhances and supports the body’s natural antioxidants. Very cool.
Like turmeric, cloves are high in flavonoids, a natural anti-inflammatory ingredient. Do you have muscle pain or arthritic pain? Try rubbing some clove essential oil on the affected area several times a day. This will help counteract inflammation and pain. Aromatherapists use clove oil to help relieve symptoms of rheumatism, and when inhaled, it can help relieve respiratory ailments like colds, asthma, and even bronchitis.
Health benefits of cloves include Eugenol
Eugenol is an anesthetic benefit of clove and is used for toothaches, sore throats, and sore gums. This active ingredient is used in some mouthwashes and sore throat treatments due to 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 clove towards dentistry are known to all. Do you remember the last time you sat in the dentist’s chair, before you received a novacaine injection? His dentist rubbed the affected gum area with an antibacterial, which helped numb the area and left his mouth tasting and smelling like fresh cloves. Where would modern dentistry be without eugenol?
Health benefits of cloves – too many to mention
Honestly, cloves are 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 upset are just a few of the foods this miracle spice helps. Diluted clove oil can be applied to cuts, burns, wounds, and bruises due to its natural antiseptic properties. The benefits of clove oil can even help relieve muscle spasm when applied around the area of spasm.
The eugenol in clove spice helps prevent blood clots. Mixtures of clove and sesame oils are heated and used for earaches. There are home remedies for headaches that include a combination of salt, milk, and clove oil. It can be used as a massage oil, providing stress relief and natural aromatherapy for the 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 soaps, perfumes and other hygienic products due to its smell? Or that this oil can be made into a natural mosquito repellant that will work for hours?
Get some health benefits of cloves in your daily life
It’s easy to incorporate a little clove into your diet. We like to make split pea soup and have found that a few cloves give the soup a spicier flavor. We steep our teas with a clove or two, which not only gives the tea a better taste, but helps the kitchen smell so good! Grind up some cloves and sprinkle some on a bowl of rice. How to grind 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 look at 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 amazement if there was anything that nails could not do. The health benefits of cloves are amazing and will probably leave you wondering the same thing.
