Effects of herbs & spices- 🖒 or 🖓

#1

Just wondering if it is beneficial or detrimental to add certain herbs and spices. I love using garlic and chilli. Thyme and rosemary are also favourites if I roast a chicken. I also use curry powders (essentially ground mixed Indian spices) which have no nutritional labelling on. Some of my curry powders do have ‘mustard flour’ on and that F-word there concerns me!
Thanks everybody.

(Chris) #2

Usually they are fine, in moderation of course. I’m not sure what’s going on with curry as I think it tastes and smells like armpit so I avoid it. The garlic, chili, thyme, rosemary are all perfectly okay IMO.

#3

Haha! :joy: I dream of Indian takeaways when I’m really hungry. Even my young daughters love them. Going for a curry and a few beers is a part of the lifestyle for many British. Main problem is the nan bread, rice and bhajis that go along with it. I teach a lot of Indian & Pakistani children whose lovely families make me amazing food too. Hard to resist. I shall remember your armpit analogy and that should put me off in future! :smile:🖒

(migorstmarseille) #4

I made a new discovery yesterday: Corn starch spices. I purchased a pack of salami from Gordon Food Service (a.k.a GFS) yesterday and ate it for a snack. I scanned the UPC code into My Fitness Pal and it came up as having 2 grams of carbs per serving, or 10 grams for the whole pack (which is what I ate without reading the label). So, read those labels!

Of course, if anyone needs this reminder, it’s me. :grin:

Otherwise, as Dread says, not much to worry about.

#5

Good advice, thanks. Hope they at least tasted good!

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #6

I think this is a good place to put this link on info about the carbs and what the herbs and spices do for you. I am finding this information very helpful when deciding what to cook up. I am using herbs from my garden mostly.
https://lowcarbediem.com/60-spices-low-carb-food-list-weight-loss-herbs/

#7

“Generally, don’t bother to count herbs and spices in recipes unless you are really pouring them into your dish.” Whew, I’m covered! And when I use really large quantities, it’s for a really large pot, so the per-serving math is still fine.

It’s amazing a modest amount of spice-perfumed oil saute can activate digestive enzymes starting with the aromas, and upon eating stimulate different areas of the brain depending on their tastes (sweet, sour, hot, astringent, bitter, salty) etc. My brain usually feels more satiated and satisfied with spiced foods compared to plain salt n’ pepper.

#8

I’m really grateful for spices in this brief life - they’re my good friends & allies.

I much prefer food-as-medicine and fasting-as-medicine way more than anything that non-emergency industrial medicine offers.

@Lucinda there are plenty of LCHF/Keto ways to do south Asian food from restaurants and at home. Sadly it doesn’t include potato samosas, but still is plenty to work with! I love me some lamb kebob, saag, and spicy okra and eggplant. I also chill & re-fry very small amounts of white basmati rice to go with it and provide me with some more resistant starch for my gut (around 10 carbs worth, 1/4 cup), and I don’t feel deprived at all.

https://lowcarbediem.com/low-carbohydrate-indian-food-atkins-recipe/

And, Sahil Makhija of “Headbanger’s Kitchen” has converted a ton of indian-style recipes to be super keto friendly - his youtube channel is also helpful!

https://headbangerskitchen.com/keto-recipes/

And, Priya Aurora’s blog, Keto For India!!!