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Cooking Food Every Day

Muy Caliente! The Traditional Hot Spices In Your Mexican Food (And Why They're Good For You!)

12 September 2018

Antonio Alexander

While sitting in a Mexican restaurant, all the smells of the spices in the food and from the kitchen waft under your nose. Why do people love spices so much? The flavors provide so much more to food that might otherwise not be as tasty or exciting.

Yet, foreign foods, like Mexican, Italian, and Indian, all have that extra "kick" when it comes to heat. What you may not know is that these spices also have many health benefits. The following traditional spices are the most common ones used in the kitchens of Mexican restaurants. Their health benefits are included. (You are welcome!)

Garlic

Garlic works for almost any food imaginable. There are ice cream shops that even sell garlic ice cream. However, in Mexican foods, it combines with the rest of the spices to create an appetizing palette of flavors.

As for garlic's health benefits, there are eleven known benefits to consuming garlic. The most important benefits include lowering blood pressure, shortening the length and severity of colds, and lowering cholesterol levels. The fresher the garlic used in your Mexican dish when eating out, the better.

Chilies

There are dozens of types of chile peppers in the world, and many of them have been grown and cultivated in Mexico for use in cooking. They are the ingredients that lend the most "heat" to any Mexican dish. Any time you order a dish at a Mexican restaurant and you want to crank up the "heat," the cooks will add a different, hotter chile to the meal.

Chilies also have some excellent health benefits. They can un-stuff a stuffy nose in seconds. They provide capsaicin, a medicinal extract that lowers bad cholesterol, are antibacterial, anti-carcinogenic (i.e, anti-cancer!), analgesic (pain-relieving), and have anti-diabetic properties. The hotter the chilies you eat, the more of these benefits you receive.

Cumin

Most European nations and North America have always used salt as a preservative. It helps season food, too, but salt has nowhere near the antimicrobial properties of cumin. It is why cumin was the main ingredient in so many Asian, Indian, and Mediterranean meals for thousands of years.

In addition to destroying microbes that lead to rotten food and food poisoning, cumin contains a good source of iron. People with anemia and a passion for tacos may find that very helpful. Additionally, people who suffer from digestive disorders or who are overweight and trying to lose weight will find that cumin can help with both of these issues.

Visit your local Mexican eatery, like El Molinito Restaurant & Catering, to try out the spices above. 

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