SYZYGIUM AROMATICUM
The clove study involved 36 men and women diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Three groups of patients consumed one, two or three grams of cloves for 30 days in capsule form, while a fourth consumed none of the spice.
At the end of the study, regardless of the amount of cloves consumed, all those who ingested cloves showed a drop in glucose, triglycerides and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. Blood levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol were not affected among the clove eaters. Those who did not ingest cloves experienced no changes.
“The people who would benefit the most are those who have impairments in their blood sugar,” said Richardson. “These are the 40 million people with metabolic syndrome who are pre-diabetic, people with type 2 diabetes, and even the severely diabetic and the severely overweight – although they may not benefit as much because the impairments in their insulin are much, much worse.”
Richardson cautioned, however, that consumers should not simply start dousing their food with cloves and cinnamon. He noted, for example, that cinnamon in powder form is rendered ineffective by contact with saliva, and its lack of solubility in water can result in an unwanted build up of the spice in the body.
Instead …
Stud an onion with several cloves when making a homemade sauce, stock, broth or stew.
Embed a few cloves into a piece of meat before cooking.
Add to cauliflower, broccoli or cabbage dishes (this will aid digestion).
Use cloves to make bread sauce.
Use cloves to make mincemeat or a Christmas pudding.
Add ground cloves to biscuit or cake dough for a spicy sweet treat.
Add to your mulled wine ingredients.
Use cloves in your apple sauce.
Add to stewed fruits such as apples or rhubarb.
Add to barbeque style sauces.
Flavor soups with whole cloves.
Flavor boiled or fried rice with several cloves.
Use to make sweet breads or muffins.
Add to pumpkin or sweet potato pie.
Add to curries and other spicy foods.
Add to rice pudding and other milk-based sweet dishes.
SEASONED 