Herbs are often used as an after-thought when planning your diet, but there are many health-related reasons they should be front and center.

One of the most obvious is that they are big in flavor but very low or negligible in calories.

“Because they’re so flavorful, they make it easier to cut back on less healthy ingredients like salt, sugar, and added fat,” Adrienne Youdim, MD, an associate clinical professor of medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, ells WebMD.

If you’re on a calorie-restricted diet, herbs are a great, tasty way of adding a bit of oomph to your meals without adding extra calories.

Also, though herbs have few calories, they are hugely beneficial from a nutritional standpoint, according to the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The Mayo Clinic agrees, saying that herbs are good sources of phytochemicals, which are natural disease-fighting compounds like antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. Others help with cell clean-up or blood cell clumping. Continue reading →

When it comes to healthy cooking, you can gain a lot of benefits from using essential oils. One of the most often used oils in cooking is oregano oil. This oil has been used for centuries thanks to all that it can do.

It has antioxidant properties as well as antibacterial and antifungal. It’s also been used to fight viruses. Cooking with oregano oil has been known to help lower glucose. While this is great news for people who are diabetics, it can also help non-diabetics because muscles have more energy when glucose is properly used by the body.

This oil has also been known to help treat UTIs and intestinal bugs. It can also help to treat bloating and other gastrointestinal problems and it fights against bacteria. The oil can have a strong spicy or slightly bitter taste. Continue reading →