Spice up your Health

Recent studies from McCormick Science Institute highlight the benefits of numerous spices.

Spice up your food and you'll spice up your health. Recent studies from McCormick Science Institute highlight the benefits of numerous spices. For example, rosemary may help reduce cholesterol levels, ground cinnamon lowers blood glucose concentration after meals, and capsaicin enhances fat oxidation. Furthermore, studies show that the more spices people eat, potentially the less sodium, sweeteners and fats they use to flavor their foods. Makes sense! To help consumers make healthy purchases and to promote fresh fruit and vegetable consumption a good idea would be to cross-merchandise spices with perishables beyond the expected meat and seafood. Add spice to produce! For example, stores could highlight combinations like cinnamon on sweet potatoes, basil and oregano on broccoli, cumin on sliced zucchini - help consumer spice up their meals as well as their health! As people are cooking at home more and gaining confidence in the kitchen, now is the perfect time to help promote spice combinations. People want to eat healthier and better manage any diet-related health conditions in their households and retailers can help with this by promoting spices. For example, McCormick opened a retail store last summer by Baltimore’s Inner Harbor area. Called McCormick World of Flavors, the store has interactive displays—one where customers are classified according to the flavors they say they like, and another where people try to identify a spice scent. So, go forth and add spice