Did you know that almost all of your kitchen spices can be used as natural remedies?  It's true.  Culinary spices can be used as a safe and natural alternative to the synthetic drugs found in your medicine cabinet.  Spices can be used to treat problems ranging from headaches, gas, and diarrhea to high blood pressure and acute infections.  Below are 25 common household spices that are great natural healers!

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Allspice

Great at relieving flatulence and dyspeptic pain, helps with nervous exhaustion, gas, and diarrhea.  It may be applied as a compress in cases of rheumatism and neuralgia

Anise

Excellent for improving memory, colds, flu, cough, bronchitis, sinusitis, gas, colic, tension, lactation (not pregnancy!), eye brightener, fresh breath.  Anise is very useful for breaking up mucus and is used for hard, dry coughs where expectoration is difficult.  A tea is made by adding a cup of boiled water to three teaspoons of crushed seeds, steeping for 20-minutes.  This may be used to stimulate the productions of mother's milk.  The seeds may be smoked or added to a cough syrup formula.  It is also used as a stimulant and carminative to treat flatulence and colic, taken as a tea.  Added to laxative formulas, it will reduce cramping of the bowels.

For hacking coughs add 7 teaspoons of Anise Seeds to 1 quart of boiling water and then simmer down to 1 1/2 pints.  Strain and add 4 teaspoons each of honey and glycerin.  Take 2 tsp. of this syrup every few hours to relieve the cough.

To improve memory, take 2 tablespoons, 3 times a day.

Basil

A basil tea is good for lowering blood sugar levels and blood pressure, relieves colds, fever, congestion, joint pain, analgesic, anti-inflammatory. Externally applied to insect bites, skin infections.  A Basil tea is good to use for indigestion, fevers, colds, flu, kidney and bladder troubles, headaches, cramps, nausea, vomiting, constipation and nervous conditions.  A tea made of one heaping tablespoon to one pint of water simmered for 20-minutes with 3 crushed black peppercorns per cup will be effective for most fevers.

Traditional uses: coughs, colds, fevers, headaches, lung problems, abdominal distention, absorption, arthritis, memory, nasal congestion, nerve tissue strengthening,  clears the lungs, heart tonic, oxygenates the body, cleanses and clears the brain and nerves, relieves depression and the effects of poisons, difficult urination, prevents the accumulation of fat in the body (especialy for women after menopause), obstinate skin diseases, arthritis, rheumatism, first stages of many cancers, builds the immune system. 

Basil contains the trace mineral copper (organic form), needed to absorb iron.

Bay Leaf

Internally good to stimulate appetite, promote digestion, relieve colic and flatulence.  Externally good for dandruff, boosting hair growth, rheumatism, sprains, scabies, and bruises. Also externally, can be applied as a poultice on the chest with a cloth covering to relieve bronchitis and coughs. An oil infused with Bay Leaves can be applied with great benefit to rheumatic and arthritic aches and pains as well as to swellings and sprains.

Pepper (black)

Pepper is an excellent remedy one can take at the first sign of most diseases.  Yogis consider Pepper to be one of nature's most perfect foods and useful not only to cure disease but also as a preventive, taking a dose of seven peppercorns, ground, and mixed with honey each morning.  The mixture of pepper and honey is useful to overcome cold mucous diseases and sore throats.  When treating acute diseases, it may be used three to four times a day.  Useful for asthma, boils, colic, cough, diarrhea, fever, gas, hemorrhoids, indigestion, chronic rheumatism, obesity, phlegm, sinus congestion, skin diseases, sore throat, and worms.

Cardomom

Cardamom is often used to treat indigestion and gas.  It warms the body and is good for darrhea, colic and headaches.  It is an important ingredient in Chai tea, an Indian spice valued for its warm, stimulating effects.  To make this tea, mix one teaspoon of ginger, add seven peppercorns, a cinnamon stick, five cloves, and 15 cardamom seeds and heat in one pint of water, simmering for 10-minutes.  Then add one-half cup of milk and simmer for another 10-minutes.  Add a sprinkle of nutmeg and a few drops of vanilla extract.  Drink one cup of the tea, sweetened with honey, twice per day or as needed for warmth.

Cayenne (red) Pepper

Considered a superior crisis herb, useful as a first aid remedy for most conditions.  Taken as a daily tonic, one-quarter teaspoon three times daily, it is beneficial for the heart and circulation, preventing heart attack, strokes, colds, flu, dimished vitality, headaches, indidgestion, depression, and arthritis.  Cayenne is hot, but it not harmful. It may be difficult to swallow for a beginning user.  Cayenne powder can be rubbed on toothaches, swellings, and inflammations.  A remedy for arthritis is to rub a little Cayenne over the inflamed joint and wrap a red flannel around it to remain throughout the night.  The pain is usually relieved by morning.  A little Cayenne on a banana skin placed on the skin with a bandage will remarkably draw out any foreign object (splinters, etc) embedded in the flesh.

Cilantro

Used traditionally for digestive and gastric complaints as well as for coughs, chest pains, bladder complaints, leprosy rash, fever, dysentery, externally for headaches, oral and pharyngeal disorders, halitosis, and post-partal complications.  Can be applied externally for rheumatism and painful joints.  It improves the flavor of other medicinal preparations.  Once thought to be an aphrodisiac.  Chinese herbalists use Cilantro to remove unpleasant odors occurring in the genital areas of men and women, as well as bad breath.

Cinnamon

Very helpful for digestive problems especially when accompanied by gas and cramping, diarrhea, vomiting.  Also used to treat colds, flu, arthritis and rheumatism. Medicinally it is used to warm the organs to treat chronic diarrhea, cramps, heart and abdominal pain.  It is effectively used as a tincture given every fifteen minutes or so to stop bleeding from the uterus.  Simmered in milk and taken with a little honey, Cinnamon is very effective for indigestion and gas, diarrhea, and dysentery.  Not for the pregnant. 

Traditional uses: backaches, bronchitis, colds, congestion, diarrhea, dysentery, edema, flu, gas, headaches, hiccup, indigestion, liver problems, menorrhagia, menstrual pain, melancholy, muscle tension, nausea, pain of the waist and knees, palpitations, toothache, vomiting.

Cloves

Internally good for pain relief, nausea, vomiting, digestive problems, antifungal, antibacterial, hiccups.  Cloves will kill intestinal parasites and act as an antimicrobial agent against fungi and bacteria.  Externally good for insect bites, myalgia, and rheumatism. May be chewed for toothaches.  Eating cloves is said to be an aphrodisiac.

To make an infusion, use 1 teaspoon of powdered herb per cup of boiling water, steep 10-20 minutes and drink up to 3 cups a day.

Coriander Seed

Coriander Seeds are added to hot stimulating foods to impart a balanced coolness.  Steeped in tea, it is useful to relieve fevers (a small amount of black pepper may be added to stimulate its action).  Use 2 teaspoons of crushed seeds in a cup of boiled water and steep for 20-minutes.  Before the invention of toothpaste, coriander seeds were chewed as a breath sweetener.  Coriander is added to laxative formulas to help prevent cramping. 

Curry

A blend of ginger, turmeric, cardamom and other spices that have been shown to increase metabolism, help breathing, and reduce cholesterol.

Garlic

Useful for asthma, bronchitis, circulation, colitis, coughs, gas, high blood pressure, intestinal infections, lungs, parasitic diarrhea, warts, worms, anti-fungal, arthritis, blood purifier, cancer, cold, fever, flu, infections, detox liver, mucus, prostate, toothache, tumors, whooping cough, and yeast infections.

Ginger

Good for bronchitis, colds, muscle and menstrual cramps, energy, sore throat, circulation, cough, digestion, flu.  Externally, Ginger is applied as a fomentation for the treatment of pain, inflammation, and stiff joints. Simmer one ounce of dried Ginger Root in two quarts of water for ten minutes. Strain and soak a cloth in the water and apply to the affected area.  Keep changing the cloth to keep a constant warm temperature on the skin.  The skin should become red as the circulation increased. 

For children and adults with bronchial coughs: mix Ginger Root powder with a non-petroleum jelly and rub on their chest to help loosen coughs and expel mucous.  Works great!

Lemongrass

Useful for menstruation disorders, congestive and neuralgic forms of dysmenorrhea, vomiting, diarrhea, colic, flatulence, muscle spasms, fever, catarrh. For fevers, combine with ginger, sugar, and cinnamon.  Good for children's digestive system. Externally, great for lumbago, chronic rheumatism, neuralgia, ringworm, lice, athletes foot, scabies, and sprains.  Mix with pure coconut oil to apply as a liniment.

Marjoram

A tea made from Marjoram is used for an upset stomach, headache, colic, and a variety of nervous complaints.  It can be used for cramps and nausea associated with menstruation and for severe cases of abdominal cramps.  It is also considered helpful for seasickness.  It can be added to the bath to promote a calming effect and to relieve insomnia.  Marjoram is applied as a fomentation to painful swellings and rheumatic joints and in salves to stimulate the circulation.

Mustard

Internally, a teaspoon full of crushed seeds in warm water acts as a mild laxative and blood purifier.  Externally, a Mustard infused oil is used to stimulate local circulation.  A Mustard plaster is used for aches, sprains, spasms, and cold areas needing ciruculation.  It should not be used on tender, sensitive areas and if it seems to strong, the Mustard may be diluted with a little rye flour.

Nutmeg

A small amount of Nutmeg, about the size of a pea, can be taken once daily over a long period to relieve chronic nervous disorders and heart problems.  Internally good for diarrhea, dysentery, gastroenteritis, vomiting, bloating, indigestion, colic.  Externally good for eczema, rheumatic and abdominal pain. 

Oregano

Oregano helps to settle flatulence and stimulates the flow of bile, useful promoter of menstruation. Great for headaches.  It is often used in the treatment of colds and flu also, the infusion is used in coughs and whooping cough. Use as a mouthwash for inflammations of the mouth and throat. It may also be used externally for infected cuts and wounds and may be applied as a hot fomentation to relieve painful swellings and rheumatism, as well as for colic.  A lotion may be made which will soothe stings and bites.  As with basil, it has been suggested that eating a lot of oregano can help repel mosquitoes.  Oregano has many of the medicinal attributes of the other marjorams, but it also contains further essential oils which make it much more antiseptic in action, both internally and externally.

Paprika

Good source of Vitamin C. Acts as antioxidant. Mild form of cayenne pepper which serves as a carrier for other nutrients. 

Parsley

Internally used as a diuretic, to relax spasms, reduce inflammation, clear toxins in the body, inhibit tumor growth, menstrual complaints, urinary tract problems, gas, dyspepsia, rheumatism, arthritis, anemia, anorexia, colic, indigestion, lactation.  Externally relieves itching.

Rosemary

Commonly used as an aspirin substitute for headaches. Internally good for improving digestion, gas, rheumatism, circulatory problems, headaches, nervous complaints, antifungal, antioxidant, antibacterial. Good as a mouthwash for gums and sore throat.  Externally use in baldness shampoos, increases circulation, scalp stimulation, and dandruff.

Sage

Internally good for indigestion, gas, reduce excessive lactation, night sweats-especially menopausal, excessive salivation, profuse perspiration, anxiety, depression, female sterility, and menopausal problems.  It should not be used for more than a week, but during this period, the tea may be taken up to 3 times per day.  Externally good for insect bites, throat mouth and gum infections, vaginal discharge, combats greasy and oily hair and scalp and helpful with acne.

Thyme

A tea made with thyme is commonly used for bronchial problems such as acute bronchitis, whooping cough and laryngitis.  It is aso beneficail for the treatment of diarrhea, chronic gastritis, and lack of appetite.  Uses: alcoholism, headache, mucus, stomach, worms, parasites, hangover, infection, respiratory, stomach cramps.  Externally, its antiseptic properties make it a useful mouthwash and cleansing wash for the skin.  It will destroy fungal infections such as athlete's foot and skin parasites such as scabies, crabs and lice.  For those purposes, a tincture made from 4 ounces of Thyme to a pint of alcohol is used.  It is said that Thyme is to the trachea and bronchitis what peppermint is to the intestines and stomach. It contains an aromatic oil called thymol that is responsible for many of its excellent properties.

Turmeric

Makes an excellent arthritis tea! Strong anti-inflammatory, blood purifier, hepatitis, inflammatory bowel diseases, bruises, colic, ulcers, hemorrhages, yeast infections, antiseptic. It can be used internally and externally to heal wounds, relieve pains in the limbs, break up congestion and as a restorative after the loss of blood from childbirth.

Turmeric Arthritis Tea Recipe: 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric, 3 cardamom pods (optional), 1/4 cup water. Simmer 5 to 7 minutes, then add 1 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons almond oil (cold pressed). Bring just to the boiling point (but do not boil). Add honey or Agave Nectar to taste. Sip slowly as a hot tea.