Spices can protect your Skin

Spices

Spice up your summer with some spices. Yes you heard it right, because many spices contain strong antioxidants that help in minimizing the damage caused by sun exposure. Antioxidants help in preventing skin cancer by reducing inflammation, decreasing free radicals and preventing thymine dimmers. Spices are all rich in antioxidants.

It is found that ginger has been shown to control the colon cancer production in rats. Also, curry which contains turmeric which is a very strong antioxidant has been shown to decrease cancer production. Basil, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, oregano and thyme have also been shown to have a strong antioxidant activity.

Don’t be afraid that if you cook up the spices it might lose its health benefits. In fact it is shown in many studies that the effect of heat and cooking on the antioxidant properties increases its efficacy. If the spices are cooked at 180°C for 10 minutes it does not affect the efficiency of the antioxidant activities. On the contrary, when the nutmeg was heated it became even stronger antioxidant.

If you look around you will find antioxidants everywhere in your kitchen. Most of the oils such as the olive oil, sunflower oil contain antioxidants. Red wine, green tea, dark chocolate, berries, pomegranate, almonds and coffee are other few antioxidant sources.

Dermatologists also claim that the role of nutrition plays a vital role in having a good skin care. It is always good to spice up your diet and enrich it with fruits. A combat of spices and fruits in summer will be a best way to battle the summer heat and not to forget the most important sunscreen lotion with lots of SPF.