5 Spices That Can Improve Your Heart Health, According To Doctors

<div><img src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/63d82e4b250000620073c5f6.jpeg?cache=rGxoeVYweA&ops=scalefit_630_noupscale" alt="" data-caption="" data-credit-link-back="" data-credit="MEDITERRANEAN via Getty Images" /></div><div class="content-list-component text"><p><span style="font-weight:400">Whether you’re baking an apple pie, jazzing up a bowl of oatmeal, or making hummus or a pot of curry, spices are important ingredients that give a dish its unique flavor. Too little and spices go unnoticed and too much — well, you can ruin a recipe. Spices make a dish sing.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">Although these minuscule ingredients may seem irrelevant, not only do they add plenty of pizzazz to a dish, but many spices have beneficial properties that are good for our health, too. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">“Spices are high in antioxidants, and antioxidants fight free radicals that can wreak havoc in our bodies,” said Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a preventative cardiologist in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and founder of<a href="https://www.steponefoods.com/"> Step One Foods</a>, a food company to help patients make healthier eating choices to minimise a need for medication. “For heart health specifically, antioxidants help reduce the impact of elevated cholesterol levels,” she added. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">But spices can do even more than that. According to <a href="http://entirelynourished.com./" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michelle Routhenstein</a>, a preventive cardiology dietitian, “Spices can add several antioxidant compounds that can lead to a decrease in inflammation and a positive impact on cardiovascular health.”</span></p&g