10 Ways To Spice Up Your Life

Cinnamon

Cinnamon isn't just a great way to sweeten up your pastry or morning coffee, it also has great weight-loss properties, too. According to a recent study by <a href="http://care.diabetesjournals.org/" target="_hplink">Diabetes Care</a>, a simple teaspoon of cinnamon a day rapidly reduces blood sugar levels, as well as cholesterol by 26%, meaning it helps protect against diabetes, weight-gain and cardiovascular disease.

Paprika

Hot and spicy paprika contains capsaicin, whose anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects may lower the risk of cancer (also found in cayenne and red chili peppers).

Black Pepper

The staple in all our kitchen cupboards, black pepper contains piperine component (which creates its pungent taste) as well as boosting the metabolism by as much as 8% for sveral hours after ingesting. Freshly ground pepper packs the most piperine.

Mustard Seeds

These spicy-tasting mustard seed not only pack a punch on your taste buds, but helps boost the metabolism. This helps the body burn fat quicker - by up to 25% and around 45 calories per average meal. According to a recent study by <a href="http://www.brookes.ac.uk/" target="_hplink">Oxford Polytechnic Institute</a>, the mustard seed's thermogenic property is best as burning off the fat.

Cayenne

The main ingredient in the cayenne pepper is capsaicin, which is known for its fat-burning abilities and thermogenic properties. These stimulate the central nervous system to produce heat in the body, that goes onto increase calorie burning. A recent study featured in the <a href="http://www.nature.com/ijo/index.html" target="_hplink">Journal of Obesity </a>found that these type of spices increase fat oxidation, which ramps up energy and stimulates the nervous system - all beneficial to helping the body shed weight.

Turmeric

Thanks to its preventative and curative ingredient, curcumin, a rich anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, turmeric is best at reducing inflammation in the muscles and joints. This spice is also believed to be a great breast cancer-preventing food and is more effective than over-the-counter pain killers, like aspirin and ibuprofen, according to the <a href="http://www.vedanet.com/" target="_hplink">American Institute for Vedic Studies</a>.

Coriander

According to the <a href="http://www.springer.com/medicine/internal/journal/10620" target="_hplink">Digestive Disease and Science</a>, coriander rapidly decreases the painful symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Coriander contains an anti-spasmodic agent that helps relax contracted digestive muscles, which cause stomach cramps. It's also good at relaxing the artery, which subsequently helps lower blood pressure.

Fennel Seeds

Fennel can be classed as a vegetable, herb or spice but whatever you label it, it's anti-inflammatory agents provide pain relief for menstrual cramps. Fennel contains a liquorice-tasting oil called anethole and phytoestrogen, an oestrogen-like compound. This is proven to reduce menstrual cramps and is as strong as an over-the-counter ibuprofen.

Ginger

Ginger has long been used as a spice which helps ease all types of nausea. Previous studies from the <a href="http://www.umich.edu/" target="_hplink">University of Michigan</a> and <a href="http://nymu-e.web.ym.edu.tw/front/bin/home.phtml" target="_hplink">National Yang-Ming University</a>, Taiwan, found that ginger reduces the release of vasopressin - the key hormone that plays a role in motion sickness. Ginger also has great gastric mobility abilities, and aids healthy digestion.

Oregano

Oregano is a major source of thymol and carvacol - two antibacterial agents that fight off infection. It's also packed with super strength anti-oxidants, so much so, it has quadruple the amount of antioxidants found in blueberries.

Bowel Cancer: Lifestyle Changes You Can Make To Prevent Risks

Find out what you can do to help prevent yourself against bowel cancer.

Exercise

Try to do 150 minutes (two and a half hours) of moderate exercise over a week in bouts of 10 minutes or more. You can do this by carrying out 30 minutes on at least five days each week.

Drink... In Moderation

Drink alcohol in moderation - no more than two to three units a day for women and three to four units a day for men.

Boost Your Vitamin D

Getting enough vitamin D may reduce your risk of developing a number of cancers, including bowel cancer - although more research needs to be done to be certain. Vitamin D is produced naturally by your body when your skin is exposed to sunlight and can also be obtained from some foods, such as oily fish.

Stop Smoking

Smokers are 25% more likely to die from bowel cancer than people who had never smoked. If you smoke - quit now.