Why Some Like It Hot: Spices Are Nature's Meds, Scientist Says

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

Saw this article and thought I would pass it on.

 

Gary

=============================

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1111_051111_spicy_medicine.html

<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1111_051111_spicy_medicine.html\

>

 

Why Some Like It Hot: Spices Are Nature's Meds, Scientist Says

John Roach

for National Geographic News

November 11, 2005

 

People who live in warm climates are attracted to spicy foods because

the red-hot seasonings keep people healthy, according to a scientist

who takes a Darwinian approach to medicine.

 

" The Darwinian approach asks the question, Why are certain things the

way they are, which is a complement to the approach of asking, How do

things work? " said Paul Sherman, a professor of neurobiology and

behavior at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

 

Sherman's research shows that people in warmer regions of the world

benefit from eating spicier foods, because spices are natural

antimicrobials. Food-borne pathogens and parasites are more prolific

in warmer climates, and spices can kill or inhibit their growth.

 

When people in a country like Thailand, for instance, eat a spicy

meal, they are much less likely to spend the next day with a bout of

diarrhea than people in that region who eat bland foods.

 

" Humans do what makes them feel good, and they learn from each other, "

Sherman said, adding that people in hot climates learned that spicy

food is less likely to make them sick and thus developed a preference

for it.

 

" The simple mechanism is they felt better after eating food that was

spicy, and since they felt better they learned to like that stuff, "

Sherman said. " Over time, word-of-mouth spread the news. "

 

In cooler climates such as Iceland, a steak left outside overnight

might freeze. The cold would slow germ growth in the meat, rendering

the use of spices unnecessary. As a result, Icelandic dishes tend to

be bland.

 

But that's not a bad thing, Sherman said. Why take antimicrobials when

they are not needed?

 

Randolph Nesse is the director of the Human Evolution and Adaptation

Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He said Sherman's

research is a fine example of how behavioral traits are shaped by both

natural and cultural selection.

 

Red-Hot Proof

 

To prove his hypothesis about the climate-dependent evolution of spicy

foods, Sherman and his colleagues compared recipes for more than 4,000

meat dishes and 1,000 vegetarian dishes among 36 countries.

 

As predicted, countries with the warmest climate have the spiciest

food. Meat dishes in particular are always the spiciest because a

piece of meat lacks defenses against pathogens and parasites. Plants

by contrast are where the antimicrobials originate.

 

" The plants have a recipe for survival, " he said. " We are just

borrowing the plants' recipes for use in our own recipes. "

 

In all countries studied, spice use was greater overall in dishes from

warmer regions.

 

The University of Michigan's Nesse said it's possible that cultural

differences in spice preference are reflected in people's genes, a

hypothesis that could be tested in by studying twins raised in

separate cultures.

 

Darwinian Medicine

 

Sherman's spicy research is part of the emerging field of Darwinian

medicine, an approach to understanding the " why " behind bodily

functions, ailments, and diseases that complements traditional medicine.

 

" If you are going to fix something, it's important to know what it's

designed to do in the first place, " Sherman said.

 

For example, he said fever is an evolved defense deployed to fight

unwanted bacteria in the body. Increased body temperature makes it

harder for parasites and pathogens to reproduce and kicks the host's

immune system into overdrive.

 

This is useful knowledge when treating a mild fever, Sherman said.

Instead of prescribing medicine to reduce the fever, it may be in the

patient's best interest for the doctor to prescribe medicine that

works with the fever to combat the parasites and pathogens.

 

According to Nesse, Darwinian medicine is not " alternative " medicine,

nor does it recommend treatment. Rather, he said, " it is simply using

evolutionary biology as a crucial tool in mainstream medicine, "

including nutrition.

 

" In general the human tendency is to eat exactly what's going to kill

us, " such as fatty, salty, and sweet foods, " because those were in

short supply in our evolutionary history, " he said. " So we are

determined to eat fats, salts, and sweets. "

 

In future research, Sherman plans to examine how spice use changes

with altitude. He predicts that spices will be used less in higher,

drier climates than in lower, warmer, wetter places where food-borne

bacteria present more culinary problems.

 

He is also studying whether certain spices fight pathogens and

parasites on some foods better than others.

 

" For example, if I said, Let's have salmon and use lemon and pepper on

it, you'd say, OK. But if I said, Let's smother it with ketchup and

oregano and vinegar you'd say, What?

 

" The question is, Why are specific spices associated with particular

dishes? "

[Guest guest]

Well done! And have you seen this one?

 

Healing With Cayenne

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/cayenne.htm

 

Best love, Pat

[Guest guest]

Lots of interesting information.

Thanks!

 

Gary

 

At 11:47 AM 4/16/2006, you wrote:

>Well done! And have you seen this one?

>

>Healing With Cayenne

><http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/cayenne.htm>http://www.shirleys-wellness\

-cafe.com/cayenne.htm

>

>Best love, Pat

>

>----------

[Guest guest]

A fascinating theory regarding cultures living in hotter climates

evolving to use hot spices to ward off pathogens more likely in

those areas. The one I had heard was they ate them to cool off,

as they cause extra sweating.

 

-Erin

 

 

, " Gary " <gsmattingly wrote:

>

> Hi,

>

> Saw this article and thought I would pass it on.

>

> Gary

> =============================

>

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1111_051111_spicy_medic

ine.html

>

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cine.html>