The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices: A Complete Guide to Natures Timeless Treasures

by Cal Orey

Boost your immune system with antioxidants, lower your risk for the flu, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and more—with ordinary everyday ingredients you can find at home—and make healthy green choices in today’s fast-changing world!

The mega-popular Healing Powers series from bestselling nutrition writer Cal Orey continues with its 9th installment, The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices, exploring the many ways fresh herbs in your fridge and dried spices in your kitchen cupboard can provide medicinal powers, home cures, weight loss benefits, beauty treatments, and adventurous flavors and textures to enhance plant-based dishes.

*THIS BOOK INCLUDES 16 PAGES OF COLOR PHOTOS INSIDE!*

The key to vibrant health for all generations is in your kitchen...

Anise, bay leaf, garlic, parsley, turmeric, and more--for thousands of years, herbs and spices have been praised for preserving and flavoring food, as well as preventing and curing illnesses. The latest research reveals that the seasonings already in your pantry--or easily found fresh in your supermarket or garden--can lower your risk for cancer, heart disease, and obesity. This A-to-Z guide catalogues the most popular and versatile herbs and spices, drawn from the Mediterranean Diet but suitable for any diet plan. You will learn how to harness herbalism to heal your body and mind.

Discover how to use nature's gifts including allspice, chives, fennel, oregano, pepper, tarragon, saffron, and special blends like Herbes de Provence to:

●Bring abundant zest to your table while lowering your cholesterol, balancing your blood sugar, and revving up your metabolism--at any age!
●Ward off colds and flu, banish a hacking cough, and even ease PMS or menopause woes, by adding tasty plant therapy to your favorite food or drink.
●Lessen your anxiety and boost your mood with aromatic natural ingredients found in dried and fresh flavorings.
●Soothe aches and pains without harmful side effects--and trigger feel-good endorphins--using sweet and savory garnishes, including edible flowers.
●Create in-home spa treatments using the same herbal potions featured at luxury spa resorts.

Caraway Breadsticks, anyone? How about Cilantro Lime Slaw, Herbal Greek Bean Soup, or Roasted Paprika Cornish Hens? With over 50 taste-tempting recipes, along with personal stories and fascinating historical anecdotes on medicinal uses dating back to biblical times, The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices is your go-to guide to embracing limitless energy and healthy longevity while feasting on memorable meals full of aroma and deliciousness! *16 PAGES OF COLOR PHOTOS

With a Foreword by Will Clower, Ph.D. , CEO Mediterranean Wellness and author of The Fat Fallacy and The French Don't Diet Plan

Genres: Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

Published December 29, 2020

About the author

Cal Orey is an author-journalist (savvy researcher) and pens fiction. She has a master's degree in English (Creative Writing) from San Francisco State University. Orey lives in Northern CA and is known for her hugely popular Healing Powers book collection published by Kensington.

The Healing Powers of Herbs & Spices: Timeless Treasures #9 has made its way to being a pick in Woman's World Magazine Book Club, Booklist, American Global News, NYC Daily Post, New York Daily, City Buzz News, Huffington Post, more than 68 libraries worldwide, many hard copy and online magazines... noted on C2CAM, KSFO...

These down-to-earth, compelling lifestyle-
cookbooks with lively stories have been translated in 20+ languages; featured by Bookspan (including Literary Guild, Good Cook). Her latest books are The Healing Powers of Essential Oils (2019), The Healing Powers of Superfoods (2019), The Healing Powers of Tea (2018), The Healing Powers of Honey (2018, mass market, gift size 416 pages), and The Healing Powers of Vinegar, 3rd edition mass market format.

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a standard compilation of health benefits of some of the most common kitchen herbs and spices like garlic, basil, turmeric and thyme. It does not go into dosages and does not cover some of the most potent herbs and spices for healing such as nettles, elderberries, ashwaghanda, hawthorn, and astragalus, to name a few, focusing instead on common kitchen herbs.

Each herb is profiled in general and then possible health benefits are listed. A few recipes are provided. The book is part of a series of books about the healing powers of various types of foods and substances (vinegar, honey, essential oils, etc.). I have not read the others in the series. The author is not an herbalist (not that you need to be to provide good information). Sometimes information is incomplete. For instance, the section on garlic does not talk about the importance of crushing or mincing the raw garlic first to release its most beneficial components and waiting 5-10 minutes before ingesting it (preferably raw), or that if you take a pinch of pepper with most beneficial herbs it will greatly increase their benefits since it increases the bioavailability of other herbs.

I always prefer herbal books that go into specifics regarding dosages and ways to best utilize herbs, and greatly prefer using wild herbs and local plants, but this is a nice book if you just want to read up about ways that various herbs and spices can help your health.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Lorca Damon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's very refreshing to come across a book packed with solid, helpful information on healing and wellness that doesn't try to discredit modern medicine. There is absolutely a place for both in our lives, and crucial information is being lost in the delirium of "internet research."

The discovery of antibiotics, blood thinners, and other lifesaving medications have been a blessing to mankind. But for more common ailments and day-to-day health and wellness, it's awesome to know there are natural, non-invasive ways to boost one's health and be pro-active about immunity support.

I have long believed in the power of herbs and spices, and finding a resource like this one is wonderful. I strongly urge people to browse through it, come to their own conclusions based on their information and comfort-level, and incorporate a variety of options presented in this book into their routine health practices.

Stepped on a rusty nail? Having a heart attack? By all means, seek out modern medical interventions. Trying to stay healthy this flu season? Wear a damn mask and incorporate more herbal solutions into your daily life!

[S Tondra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices is Cal Orey’s latest healing power book (number 9 in the series). She gives you a great introduction and then chapters are dedicated to a different herb or spice and each part of the book focuses on a different area of life (age-defying, folk remedies, etc.). There are recipes throughout the book to help you use the herb or spice. I think my only complaint is that there are no images in this copy of the book to add visual appeal.

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was received as an ARC from Kensington Books - Citadel in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book had the perfect order: Name of Spice: Background: Favorite Recipe...THAT IS GENIUS!! I am a fan of almost all of the spices mentioned in this book and the powers it has to heal ailments and make your body feel its best. It is also so fascinating to me of the health benefits of these herbs and spices and they are not just for making food taste better but your body feel better. Not only will we consider this for our TX collection but, I just might consider this for my own bookshelf.

We will consider adding this title to our TX Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

[Manuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid cook I have always integrated spices in my cooking. With the Pandemic I started to recreate more elaborate dishes that I usually just eat out. I needed a guide on herbs and spices, as I needed to educate myself on the various ways of integrating these and their health benefits. This books is amazing. Cal Orey gives a detailed list of each herb/spice and its benefits, plus recipes. This book should be in every Chef's library. Thank you to Netgalley for a preview.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I would much prefer to heal my body with herbs and spices than other medicines. This book is very informative and the photographs are beautiful.

I recommend it.
This book was given to me by NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been a lover of herbs and spices and any book that speaks of them. This book was no exception. The book has some history, facts and nutritional info about the different herbs and spices, and recipes. The historical aspect was neat and different, as well as different recipes using these nutritional powerhouses. The author also shares personal info about her own history and relationship with these different herbs and spices. Lots of great information, and a great book.

[Ioana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very lovely book, to have on your kitchen shelf and to give to any cooking aficionado.

While I have not read the other books in the series and am not a great lover of cooking, I do love to know more about spices and other goodies we use in the kitchen so this book was pretty good to me.

I loved the complexity of it: there are personal stories from the author which bring flavor to the pages, there are a lot of details about the chemistry and the history of the spices and, of course, their benefits for health. These benefits are represented in many forms, each spices has a dedicated page, but here are also charts and several health issues that have suggested herbs that can alleviate these issues. There are folk types of advice mixed in, beauty and home benefits from using herbs and a lot of recipes.

In the beginning it seemed a little shallow, as if more information was necessary. But really, what more can be said about this, after the theme of this well known spices has been rolled over and over through the pages?! So in the end I find this a pretty complex book. Highly recommend it for people who love to cook, who love to know more about ingredients and spices. It's the perfect gift idea!

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Tove R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

In-depth knowledge about many herbs and spices packed into one book. Not only that, but great information about how useful both herbs and spices can be to our health. There are a lot of different information regarding herbs and spices, for example the history of how and when humans started using them, what we use them for, and even some recipes. Personally I don’t think the recipes are necessary in a book like this. Instead I would prefer to have pictures of fresh and dried herbs.

All in all an informative read, and a book I will get back to often, basically when I need it to remember what is used for a certain health problem. This is the strength of the book, if you ask me. I find it important to have a good reference book to turn to when my body seems to fail me. I prefer to turn to natural remedies first. Naturally there’s a time and place for medication, but if I have a sore throat or swollen feet I’d rather use this book than turn to an MD.

[LittleRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been looking for something like this book for Indian spices. After spending a great deal of time in India on business I learned that they use spices and herbs for medicinal purposes. When I found this one I was intrigued and while this covers more of the Mediterranean spices, it does have turmeric included in the covered content.

The books is interesting in that it shares of information on the benefits and the spices and herbs included in the book. However, the minute I saw the mention of Dr. Oz and fat burning I was over it. That ruined a perfectly good book for me with that one entry alone. Just because I don’t put much store in Dr Oz and miracle cures, don’t let my issues with this detract you from learning more about the spices and herbs you use on a regular basis. You will find the recipes that include the spices to be of interest as well. Try a few of them out and start cooking to feed body and soul.

[Sara Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices by Cal Orey was an interesting read.

There was quite a bit of information at the beginning as to the overall history of spices. That part was okay, but it did not hold my interest very well.

What I did enjoy was the breakdown of various spices and the different recipes that went along with each. Some of these I could easily make while others seem harder either due to certain ingredients not readily available around where I live or just all of the steps that it takes to complete a recipe.

The only other issue I had was the sugar used in recipes. I do enjoy a sweet treat now and again, but I have found cutting sugar out has also done a lot of healing on my body. I would have preferred a different sweetener, since this book is about healing. That is just a personal preference to some of the recipes.

I received an eARC from Kensington Books and Citadel through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

[Johanna Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks for allowing me to look at this book through an ARC service ... book has some interesting facts and uses for different types of herbs and spices. However I didn’t much care for the format the book was downloaded in. The mobi copy was choppy and the pdf didn’t download much easier....for some reason I had to turn the pages four or five times to get a new page. Still the book was informative and had recipes and historical information about each spice or herb. I’d rather see this book in full form. Lack of pictures as well made this a more generic book.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is loaded with information on both the health benefits and cooking uses of Mediterranean herbs and spices. There are also plenty of recipes and a quick guide of which herbs pair well together. It’s well written and very readable.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book, it’s full of facts, history and recipes. I feel like I’ve learnt loads, which to be honest I didn’t expect from this book.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

[Donna Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned quite a bit from reading this book. I will buy this for my kitchen...I use a lot of different herbs and spices in my cooking and after I buy this book, I will have a very handy reference guide on hand! Well written.

[Cozy Book Spot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love adding spices to my food and I enjoyed reading this book and getting to know more about spices. It's a good reference book. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not only was there great holistic info in this book, but it had recipes as well!! I learned a ton about my favorite herbs and spices and will put the recto good use!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had great info! And some amazing, manageable recipes!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good education on common kitchen herbs and spices. The author interjected a personal memory for each spice along with a recipe.

[Cal Orey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to a one-of-a-kind timeless read on herbs and spices -- timeless treasures. This well-constructed book includes everything you need to cope with a "new normal"! Travelogues, home cures, health perks of Mediterranean seasonings, and adventurous recipes from pro chefs are sprinkled throughout! A bonus: It's a go-to guide with 352 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in, 16 PAGES OF COLOR PHOTOS!

[Jenn Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Healing Powers of Herbs and Spices included medicinal powers, home cures, and beauty treatments. The author is a nutrition journalist and created the Healing Powers series.

I am not sure where I stand with this book. There was a lot of information. I learned things which doesn't always happen when reading about herbs since I have been using them for so long. But the author praised Christopher Columbus a lot, like more than a few times. I think a better person could be used as an example because of all of the horrible things that Columbus did.

There are doctor warnings which is so important when creating a book like this. It does get repetitive at times and I don't know if I will be making the recipes, but there were a lot of them.

I read my review copy on my phone and the digital copy did have some weird formatting errors.