Health gem

If you do one thing this week . . . don't put way the Christmas spices

This week will see many households unplug the fairy lights, jettison the Christmas tree and pack away the decorations.

But there’s an element of the festive season that you might want to keep going a little longer: the spices.

Sprinkling in flavours such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger or nutmeg as appropriate when cooking means you can be a little lighter-handed when adding sugar or salt and still not lose out on taste.

Cinnamon in particular is something of a health superstar in the lab. While more studies on the effects in humans are needed, a recent paper in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition remarked: “Some evidence suggests that cinnamon may be effective in the supportive treatment of cancer, infectious diseases, and complaints associated with modern lifestyle due to its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and blood pressure-lowering effects.”

So why not sprinkle some on your porridge – it’ll keep the memory of Christmas lingering too.