Dhru Purohit Show - My Top Three Most Underrated Herbs and Spices with Dhru Purohit

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

This episode is brought to you by InsideTracker and Pendulum. We know that eating a variety of plant foods is linked to a more diverse gut microbiome, which is associated with less risk of chronic disease and greater overall health and longevity. But what we don’t talk about enough is the fact that including more spices in our diet is one of the simplest ways to achieve this variety. Today on The Dhru Purohit Podcast, Dhru shares his list of the top three most underrated herbs and spices, why they are so beneficial, and how to incorporate them into your life to experience their insane healing effects. Also mentioned in this episode: -Try This: My Top 3 Spices  -Butternut Taco Wraps with Hemp Seed Cream For more on Dhru Purohit, follow him on Instagram @dhrupurohit, Facebook @dhruxpurohit, Twitter @dhrupurohit, YouTube @dhrupurohit, and TikTok @dhru.purohit. Text Dhru at 302-200-5643 or click here.  Interested in joining Dhru’s Facebook community? Submit your request to join here. This episode is brought to you by InsideTracker and Pendulum. InsideTracker provides detailed nutrition and lifestyle guidance based on your individual needs. Right now, they’re offering my podcast community 20% off. Just go to insidetracker.com/DHRU to get your discount and try it out for yourself. Pendulum is the first company to figure out how to harness the amazing benefits of Akkermansia in a probiotic capsule. To receive 20% off your first purchase of Pendulum’s Akkermansia probiotic supplement, go to Pendulumlife.com and use code DHRU20. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi everyone, Drew Prode here. Today we're talking about my top three spices. Well, to be fair, there are herbs and spices. You know, I have a lot of favorite spices. I have a lot of favorite herbs and I love mixing it up. But these are three in particular that I felt inspired to share about today because they're underrated. They're underrated and often overlooked. Because we can tend to focus on the ones that are really just popular right now. And those get used. or sometimes overused, some of the classic ones that are out there, turmeric, ginger, garlic, you know, they get a lot of attention and love these days. But these are three spices that I'm going to be chatting about that are super beneficial.

I'm going to chat about how to incorporate them into your life and especially to get their insane healing effects. What kind of benefits I'm talking about? Well, a lot of these spices have been studied and full references inside of the show notes. for their anti-aging properties, antidepressant properties, anti-diabetic, antifungal, anti-flammatory, antiviral, cardioprotective, and even get this, a lot of you know this, some of you don't.

This podcast started off, and the title of the podcast was the broken brain podcast because we were teaching you that your brain wasn't broken, and everybody cares about brain health, and some of these spices that are here are neuroprotective. Now, the key word here is underrated, and I've added this to the title of today's podcast, because, as I mentioned, there's plenty of content out there on the power of spices, and a lot of the classic ones, the big ones, turmeric, ginger, garlic, etc., etc., etc., they seem to get all the love. And it's love that's well deserved. They have mounds of research behind them, and they have tons of therapeutic values. Today, however, I want to shine the spotlight on three spices that don't always make it into the mainstream. If you are a spice officiant, you definitely know them and use them, but the mainstream,

and you might have even forgotten about using them regularly as a part of your diet. So we're going to bring them up and we're going to highlight them. You'll probably notice that my top three spices are not only easy to get, but they're also a good chance that you might already have them in your pantry. You could need a refresh. I'll get to that a little bit later on, especially if your spices have been sitting around for over a couple years in that. pantry, we all have those spices that have just been sitting around and collecting dust and the

bottle is still full. A little hack, by the way, and I'll get into this a little bit later on, but it's worth touching on, if you want to incorporate more spices into your diet and get all of the benefits from the incredible compounds and polyphenols that are part of them, figuring out a way to have them displayed in front of you is so key. In the book of Tomic Habits, and I've also interviewed BJ Fogg and his book Tiny Habits. So much of the data and the research around habit change is that the more we shape our environment to be conducive to highlight the behaviors and the habits that we want to practice more regularly, the more likely it is that we're going to do them.

So if you have to open up a closet and dig through a bunch of shoes to find your running shoes and then put them on and then you go running, that's one way to do it. But if you're running shoes are just sitting out nicely right next year, door, that tends to make it more likely that you'll actually move forward with that habit. I'm not the biggest running fan, but just as an example. Same thing with spices. If you put your spices out on the counter, and there's all sorts of cool little things on Amazon, little devices and containers and other stuff, holders for a cabinet, if you want

to keep them hidden to keep the kitchen more organized, that still display them in a way that makes them inviting, exciting, invigorating to want to use. So that's just a little pro tip when it comes to spices. All right, top three most underrated herbs and spices. Let's jump in. Today's first herb that we're going to be highlighting is rosemary. Rosemary's impressive profile of healing benefits are linked to its potent bioactive polyphenol known as rosamorinic acid. Studies show that rosemary can inhibit cancer cells and their proliferation.

And they have anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, anti-age, anti-microbial and antidepressant effects. Rosemary also blocks pro-inflammatory pathways, supports the immune system, and improves digestion and circulation in the body and the brain, which can help enhance concentration and focus. Reference number four, study number four, in the show notes that I have below. The majority of the studies that use Rosemary are in vitro, so it's hard to extrapolate an exact dose in human beings. One study, however, that ingesting 500 milligrams of rosemary, about half a teaspoon, twice daily, one teaspoon total for a month significantly improved, get this, memory, reduced anxiety, and reduced depression,

and enhanced sleep quality in university studies. Reference number five. If you already aren't using rosemary, even shooting for a few teaspoons a week could be beneficial. It can be potent, so you start off a little small. Now, I thought I knew a lot about Rosemary, but when I read this paper that I've linked in the show notes, and the title is, therapeutic potential of rosemaryic acid, a comprehensive review, I was completely blown away by the list of healing effects that it had to offer. And that's why I'm listing Rosemary as my first most underrated herb. There's a powerful image that I have linked to in the show notes. That's on a blog post,

which is the written form of today's podcast, which, by the way, comes from my Try This newsletter. It's a weekly newsletter. It comes out every Friday, without fail, every Friday, and you get a step-by-step protocol

each week that can help you take your health, brain health, your heart health, your metabolic health, to the next level. Because I'll give you actionable things that you can actually try. That's why it's called Try This. Catchy name.

I came up with them. myself. Yes, you can sign up for it for free. Just go to Drew, D-H-R-U-R-H-I-T-R-H-I-T-com, and then click on the link that says, try this in the navigation. You can sign up for free. And I have a link to this blog post so you can follow along in written form if you're more of a written. And I have a link to the visual that I'm going to talk about in a second. So at the center, you have rosemaryic acid, and I'm going to go through the list of a bunch of different things that it's been shown to have an impact on. And this was featured in that paper, therapeutic potential of rosemary acid, comprehensive review, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic,

anti-microbial. A lot of gut formulas use rosemary to help get rid of the bad bacteria in the gut. Oxidative stress lowering, cardioprotective, anti-allergenic, anti-depressive, nephroprotective, nephrologist, kidneys, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-aging, and anti-cancer to bring us back full circle. So I'm turning 40s here, and I can honestly say that I've never felt better. So many people have this looming fear around getting older. By the way, 40's young, 50's young, 60s young, 70s young, 80s can be young, but so many people are afraid of getting older because they're, afraid of what's going to come along with it, which usually means chronic disease, losing their

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Now, if you're thinking about how to use Rosemary, there are a few tips and hacks that I've pulled from my friends, including Dr. Care Fitzger-Fitz-J-L, which I'll get to in a second. So Rosemary is extremely versatile. It has a lemon peppery, piny flavor that blends great with whatever you're cooking. So you don't have to worry about it not meshing well with other flavors. So if you're thinking about breakfast, for instance, sprinkle some ground rosemary on your eggs. That's what I love to do. I personally like to season my chicken sausage with rosemary lunch.

Add a pinch to your salad or whisk it in with some olive oil, lemon, and sea salt for a simple salad dressing. Dinner, you can season meat or roasted vegetables with a teaspoon or two. Not only does it add flavor, but it's antioxidants. This was mind-blowing when I had first heard this, help cancel out the carcinogens that come when meat is cooked, especially if you like to grill. Rosemary is a good thing to help protect both vegetables and meats and cancel out some of those carcinogenic effects that come when you charcoal the things that you're cooking. We don't want a lot of charcoaling, but occasionally a little bit of charcoaling can add a little flavor. and rosemary can help cancel out some of that. My dear friend, Dr. Care Fitzgerald, who's been on the podcast before,

told me that she keeps a rosemary grinder on her desk. It takes a little bit of rosemary, puts it in a little grinder. You can get one of these grinders on Amazon or your local health food store, and she uses it kind of like a salt and pepper grinder. And she uses it on everything. I usually think that you could only cook rosemary, and that's how I would mostly have it. Minus T.

I guess tea is a little bit of a form of cooking. with the hot water. But when Kara showed me during my interview with her that she keeps it in a grinder and will literally just grind it over her salad or, you know, a little bit of smoked salmon or eggs or whatever, it really inspired me. And I've done the same. I have a grinder in my own house. So you could try this for yourself by throwing some dried rosemary into an old salt or pepper grinder and keeping it on your desk drawer or keeping it somewhere where you can add it to meals and snacks. Another favorite, secondary option. for rosemary's tea. As I mentioned, you can also try infusing your water with rosemary.

There's a recipe that I have a link to in the blog article. Or buying rosemary tea from your local health food store that's already ready to go. Although, that can be a little bit overpriced. So if you're on a budget, just get the herbs and soak it yourself. I like to blend a little bit of rosemary with Tulsi. Tulsi tea. If you're not familiar with Tulsi, it's holy basil. It's an herb from India. has a lot of different adaptogenic properties. My favorite company, I'll take a little bit of fresh rosemary, and then I'll add organic India Tulsi tea, and that'll be a nice little tea that I like to have sometimes.

Another option, you can do something else that I also do. I take a little dried rosemary, put it into your evening cup of tea, and I like to do that with ginger as well if I'm having in the evening and squeeze a little lemon juice in it to balance up the flavors. All right. So that's how to use rosemary, and that's why rosemary is one of my top. most underrated herbs that's out there. Cook with it, make tea with it, put in a salt grinder, and add it to your salad or whatever

else you're eating. Number two, most underrated herb is oregano. Here's a mind-blowing fact about oregano that will give some context around why I've included it as the second most underrated herb or spice. oregano has the highest, the highest antioxidant activity of any herb, approximately four times as much as blueberries. Yes, this was taken from the encyclopedia of healing foods created by Time Warner International. And it's Dr. Pizorno who wrote about this inside of there. and that's mind-blowing.

We all know how effective blueberries are in their antioxidant activity. Oregano is four times as much as blueberries. This makes oregano helpful for inflammatory conditions like depression, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and headaches even. Reference number seven. Oregino also protects against cancer because it helps prevent DNA damage due to oxidative stress. In addition to its high antioxidant potential, oregano oil has been studied for its antipathogenic properties.

It's antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal, and it's effective for treating candida overgrowth, which is why, again, you often will find it in many formulas by very reputable companies that are looking to address bacterial imbalance. And by the way, many functional medicine doctors use those, including the doctors at our Ultra Wellness Center, clinics in Lenox, Massachusetts, they'll use oregano as part of their gut healing protocols. So here's something that you can try. Try this. Butternut taco wraps with hemp seed cream. Yes, butternut taco wraps with hemp seed cream. I have a link in the show notes to a PDF. And I love this recipe for my friend, Dr. Mark Hyman's cookbook, because the oregano really comes through and meshes well with other flavors.

And even though the recipe only calls for one teaspoon of dried oregano, you can easily bump it up to one tablespoon to get more benefit without sacrificing the taste. Pro tip, add oregano towards the end of cooking or use it as a garnish to ensure it retains its polyphenol since heat can reduce its medicinal value. All right, that was number two. My second most underrated herb slash spice for today's podcast is oregano. Go into number three. Cinnamon.

Yes, cinnamon. Cinnamon helps stabilize blood glucose levels and improves blood lipid levels. Researchers think that cinnamon's impact on blood glucose might be due to its insulin sensitizing effect. You can look more into that in reference number 10 and 11 in the show notes. A meta-analysis of randomized control trials found that six grams of cinnamon per day,

about two teaspoons, for four to 18 weeks, lowered fasting blood glucose levels, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and even triglycerides. That's pretty powerful for spice to be able to do that. We're just talking about six grams of cinnamon per day, two teaspoons. Cinnamon also has antioxidant, antivirulial, anti-cancer, cardioprotective properties. Studies have shown that cinnamon could help prevent cognitive decline. by enhancing insulin sensitivity and reducing plaque build up in the brain,

which is associated with things like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. So here is my favorite way. Cinnamon is one of those things that especially we're going to have it on a regular basis. There's got to be an easy way every day that you can incorporate it into your routine. So here's my hack. So in my morning coffee or latte and sometimes protein shake, one of my favorite ways to use cinnamon is to add it to, my homemade latte. So I'll use, because I'm a big fan of using clean almond milks, and I do pretty

well with almond milk. There's a company called New Barn, which I'm a big fan of. They're not a sponsor or anything else like that, just a fan. They have it in my Whole Foods grocery store. And New Barn has an unsweetened almond milk that literally has just a few ingredients. Organic almond milk, which includes filtered water and organic almonds and salt. So really almonds, water, and sea salt. And the almonds are organic. And by the way, if you see all these studies, not studies, sorry, articles, there's a ton of articles that are out there about how almonds are terrible for the environment. You know, they don't, you know, they're not good and they use so much water. Well, newborn, hats off to them, they have an almond milk from their company, newborn organic,

that is dry farmed. It's regeneratively farmed and it's dry farmed. So it uses way less water compared to normal almonds that mostly are grown here in California. And also because it's organic, it's better for the bees because bees are required heavily to help pollinate almonds. And actually, the truth is I don't know how much non-organic almonds are sprayed or not sprayed I'll have to look that up and report back from a previous podcast. So New Barn is a great company, and they have a regenerative and dry farmed almond milk. If you don't have it at your local Whole Food Store, there's a link of the show notes. You can order it on their website, six-pack.

It's pricey, right? But I don't use a lot of it. Just use it in my morning latte. So I'll typically take unsweetened almond milk, like from New Barn. Another company that's great is Malk. Also a lot of simple ingredients inside of there. I'll add two shots of espresso when I am actually having, espresso, I take regular breaks, and I'll add in a scoop of grass-fed collagen.

There's a lot of really great ones that are out there. You can find out at your local health food store, and I'll add in a teaspoon of organic cinnamon. And then I'll blend it all together using a frother, like a little milk frother that you can get on Amazon or wherever. And it tastes amazing. It tastes fantastic. And I'll usually add ice to it because I kind of prefer ice lattes. Now, if I'm having a smoothie, generally speaking, cinnamon is one of those tastes that

I've gotten so used to. So without fail, I'm including cinnamon either in my morning latte or if I'm not in the mood of latte, I'm not in the mood for a latte, rather, I'll blend it into a little bit of protein powder and almond milk or a little bit of protein powder and water. It just become second nature. One important thing to note about cinnamon is it doesn't fare well directly in hot coffee. If anybody's ever made hot coffee and added cinnamon to it, the hot tea or hot coffee will give the cinnamon a burnt taste and it will pretty much ruin your morning cup of Joe. So that's why I typically will add cinnamon to things that are cold or room temperature.

Hot, unless if you're cooking with it, you know, like you're baking an apple pie or doing something else, you know, cooking something else with cinnamon. Cinnamon with chicken sausage is actually really great. there's a company that I ordered from pasture raised chicken sausage and I'll cook it with a little bit of sea salt, open up the flavors and a little bit of cinnamon and that does really well. So if your coffee is your jam, I'd recommend just sprinkling a little bit of cinnamon on top rather than mixing it in if you're going to drink you hot, but it does really well in cold liquid especially. All right.

Those are three of my top most underrated herbs and spices. cinnamon for its blood sugar and glucose benefits, oregano, because it has four times as much antioxidants as blueberries, and rosemary, which has this insane chart. You really got to see this chart that has so many things. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11. Yes, 11 things that the main polyphenol in rosemary, rosemary, rosemary, rosemary, or protects, or reduces. So rosemary, oregano, and cinnamon. If you haven't been using them, go check them out. And when you can, choose organic. If you can, it's not the end of the world, but definitely buy from reputable buyers. A little bit of spices goes long way,

and a good way to save money on them is to buy in bulk. I hope I have been the hype man. for these three herbs and spices today, that's really the goal with this podcast. I want to get you excited about simple things that can really dramatically improve your health when regularly included. So I know you know about the power of rosemary and cinnamon. And I know you know about how important oregano is. And you've probably used these. But if you've forgotten about them, use this podcast as a reminder to go check them out again.

Give them some love and incorporate them into your life. All right, everyone, I hope you enjoyed today's podcast. If you are inspired and you want to learn more, sign up for the newsletter so you can get the latest version of these protocols. From the Try This newsletter, just go to Drew Perot.com, link in the show notes, and click on Try This to sign up for the next newsletter gets sent straight to your inbox. See you next week.