My eyes have been opened to the health benefits of cumin or as I grew up calling it, comino. I've always taken comino for granted, it's simply been one of the spices that has flavored many of the latin dishes of my youth and it is a staple spice in my cabinet, but I had no idea that it is not only good for you, but good for so many things. Now I can't get over how amazing cumin truly is.
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Here are just five of the many health benefits of cumin:
1. Digestion. Cumin is great for digestion. Can you believe that just the smell of it gets your salivary glands going which gets you ready to start digesting? It also has a compound in it called thymol which gets the juices (i.e. acids, bile and enzymes) in your gut going. Oh, and it helps relieve gas.
2. Sleep. Cumin helps combat insomnia. No one seems to know exactly how cumin helps you get zzzzs, but it could be because both B-complex and good digestion help a person sleep and cumin helps a person with both these issues.
3. Lactation. Great news for mamis who are breastfeeding, comino has iron which is good for you when lactating and the thymol in it is believed to increase the production of milk.
4. Anemia. As someone who always seems to be on the cusp of being anemic, I'm thrilled to find out that cumin is a great source of iron and so easy to incorporate into your diet.
5. Immune booster. Cumin has disinfecting oils in it that help fight viral infections like the ones that cause a common cold. It also has lots of iron as previously mentioned and a good amount of vitamin C, which help keep your immune system strong.
¡Viva comino!
