Make 2022’s International Hot and Spicy Food Day something to remember. Whether gathering with loved ones or on your own, today is the perfect excuse to enjoy a meal that will fire up your belly. And there is more to hot food than just a yummy taste. If cooked right you can reap quite a few health benefits from your spicy ingredients as well.
It’s Not Just About How Hot it is
Food has been made using hot and spicy ingredients for over 6000 years. Many different cultures incorporate a bit of bite into their diets in their own unique way. From Thai cuisine, with their sweetly hot cuisine, or Indian foods, with their ability to pair many different aromatic flavours into one dish. To the Mexican burn that comes with their jalapeno boosted meals.
If you are someone a bit sensitive to the heat of a chillied dish, you still don’t have to miss out! This day is not only about how hot you can go. It is about all the aromatic spices out there and how to play with them in our diet. So if you want to celebrate today, you could simply add some extra oomph to your meal with some fresh ginger or turmeric. Maybe even pop some cinnamon into a smoothy or freshly squeezed juice.
Health Benefits
Many nutritionists recommend adding a little bit of spiciness to our diets. If you are a hot head, please note that this doesn’t mean your body wants you to digest copious amounts of the hottest chilli on earth every day. But rather that our bodies, and immune systems in particular, can greatly benefit from the addition of spices to our meals.
Most spices come with a whole list of health benefits. And even in medicine spices such as garlic and ginger have been utilized for centuries as a treatment for a number of different conditions, such as headaches, autoimmune disorders, and arthritis. A great example is ginger and its close cousin, turmeric, which are fabulous anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants.
Plus, we need such a small quantity to be able to boost our systems. So you don’t need to overwhelm yourself with any one spice. And in fact, the body also naturally enjoys a bit of variety. So consider picking your favourites and breaking them up over different meals. I, for example, absolutely love adding cinnamon to my Monday morning oats. And chicken with a bit of curry powder, or even just a little turmeric, adds that touch of colour and flavour that makes the final dish look and taste like the work of a professional. A fresh tomato-based salad becomes so much more when you add just a little bit of finely chopped fresh chilli. And you can even use them in baking, like with these super yummy caramel chilli biscuits.
Conclusion
International Hot and Spicy Food Day 2022 is a great excuse for the extreme heat-seekers out there to go wild. But even if you think you are not a big one for hot food. Try playing around a little with some of the wonderful spices nature has to offer. You might even find something new that you like. Plus, your body will be grateful for it.