The Doctor’s Kitchen. Dr Rupy Aujla

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      Growing up in an Indian household, I was constantly surrounded by spices, herbs and folk medicines. Everything from sore throats to constipation seemed treatable with the contents of our kitchen cupboards!

      Most second-generation kids will concur: Indian families seem to have an encyclopaedic knowledge for complementary health cures. I have vivid memories of being fed a spoonful of toasted spices and salt whenever I had tummy ache. My father would always make a mixture of almonds, clarified butter and sugar during my exams, claiming it was ‘brain food’. And, of course, my mother was years ahead of the ‘Spiced Turmeric Latte’ trend.

      You can imagine the number of ‘I told you so’s’ I got when I started researching the clinical validity of traditional treatments. My Indian heritage is steeped in Ayurvedic tradition and what fascinates me is the premise of ‘alternative therapies’ having the potential to become recognised treatment in the battle against chronic disease. Learning about the marriage of flavour and medicinal property was revolutionary for me.

      The positive clinical effects of food are unlikely to be caused by a single ingredient, like a spice or herb, so it’s important to maintain a holistic perspective. Remember that any benefit from the inclusion of an ingredient has to be taken in the context of a ‘good diet’. Reiterating what I stated at the start of this book: do not treat food like a pill. Concoctions from herbalists or ‘natural’ food supplements are not panaceas or cure-alls, in exactly the same way that anti-diabetic medications will not manage a patient’s condition if they don’t make changes in their lifestyle to complement treatment. Nonetheless, this does not stop me getting excited about the incredible effects of spices.

      Spices make food visibly enticing by adding colour and enhancing the flavour and aroma of the most uninspiring ingredients. Using precise techniques, we can quantify their high antioxidant capacity and activity, which explains why we’ve used spice as a preservative for centuries. There is enough evidence to support the daily inclusion of nature’s wonderful spices and here are some staples I believe everyone should have in the store cupboard and the clinical evidence as to why.

      Turmeric

      Turmeric is probably one of the most extensively researched spices we have in nutritional science and it’s now commonly accepted that daily dietary inclusion can prevent bowel cancer. There’s also evidence that it could be beneficial for helping dementia, chronic pain syndromes and inflammatory conditions.¹⁵¹ It’s astonishing what effects a single ingredient can potentially have on the body.

      As is usually the case in nutritional therapy, supplementation using high doses of one of turmeric’s active compounds, ‘curcumin’, has had mixed results.^152,153 Turmeric is not just curcumin. The spice is made up of hundreds of different plant chemicals of which curcumin is just one. These studies teach us a lesson: use whole plants as much as possible rather than isolated chemicals. A single component is not likely to be responsible for their health benefits; it’s the complex arrangement of molecules in whole ingredients that we find in nature.

      Herbs and spices

      These are some of my favourite herbs and spices to use when I’m cooking. I always have these in my kitchen and I highly recommend that you get as many of them as you can into your diet.

      I use ground turmeric in everything from Malaysian curry pastes to soups and stews; and if you can get hold of the fresh stuff that looks like ginger with bright orange flesh, even better. Using fresh turmeric in cooking with other ingredients like chilli and black pepper (that contain capsaicin and piperine) heightens its effect and availability in the body.¹⁵⁴ If nothing else gets you interested in ‘food as medicine’, this herbaceous plant from the ginger family should.

      Garlic

      I’ve been raised to expect garlic to be used in most dishes cooked at home. But even now, whether I’m cooking Italian, Chinese or Moroccan food, garlic forms the flavour base for most of my meals. Enough research has been published for me to believe that it can lower your risk of cancer, and laboratory studies demonstrate its anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.^155–158 It may have a positive impact on human gut microbe populations^159,160 too, and it’s so easy to incorporate into meals. It’s definitely an ingredient I get into my food on a daily basis (you’ll notice how often it’s used in my recipes).

      Garlic is also so versatile. You can simply cut the top off a whole bulb, drizzle it with olive oil and roast it for 20 minutes, squeezing the cooked pulp out of its papery skins and storing it in the fridge. I use it as a spread or flavour enhancer when making quick meals. Look out for fresh, smoked garlic and my current favourite, black garlic: it has a sweet balsamic vinegary taste and is a wonder ingredient in pesto and sauces.

      Ginger

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