Spice Up Your Life: Adipose Tissue and Inflammation

Table 1

Shown are some of the more commonly used herbs and spices, possible active ingredients, and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. This is not an exhaustive list of herbs and spices but is used to illustrate the beneficial effects of these herbs and spices. For many, the entire range of active ingredients is unknown and most are used in powder form or as an aqueous extract. A few are used as an oil extract.

Common name	Botanical name	Anti-inflammatory; properties	Possible mechanism	Active ingredient	Reference
Allspice	Pimenta officinalis/Pimenta dioica	Yes	N.D.		[22]
Anise	Pimpinella anisum	Yes	↓NF-𝜅𝛽	Anethol	[23]
Bay leaf	Laurus nobilis	Yes		Quercetin	[22]
Black pepper	Piper nigrum	Yes	↓adipogenesis	Piperine	[24, 25]
Caraway	Carum carvi	Yes	N.D.	Aqueous extract	[22]
Chili pepper	Capsicum annuum L.	Yes	↓NF-𝜅𝛽 by blocking; IκB𝛼 degredation	Capsaicin	[26]
Cinnamon	Cinnamomum cassia	Yes	N.D.	Benzyl cinnamide/cinnamic acid	[22]
Clove	Syzygium aromaticum	Yes	↓Cox-2	Carvacrol/eugenol	[25]
Cocoa	Theobroma cacao (seed)	Yes	↓NF-𝜅𝛽; ↓adipogenesis	Catechin, mixture of several flavanols	[26]
Coriander	Coriandrum sativum	Yes	Antioxidant	Galic acid/seed or plant extract	[26]
Cumin	Cuminum cyminum	Yes	N.D.	Cuminaldehyde, cumin oil, oleorestin	[26]
Fenugreek	Trigonella foenum-graecum	Yes	N.D.	Used as extract	[26]
Ginger	Zingiber officinale (underground stem)	Yes	↓NF-𝜅𝛽; ↓Cox-2	6-Gingerol, 10-gingerol, shogaol	[27]
Marjoram	Origanum majorana	Yes	N.D.	Rosmarinic	[28]
Oregano	Origanum vulgare	Yes	↓Cox-2	Biochanin A/diosmetin	[28]
Rosemary	Rosmarinus officinalis	Yes	N.D.	Rosmarinic/luteolin	[28]
Sage	Salvia officinalis	Yes	↓Cox-2	Rosmarinic/apigenin	[28]
Soy/soy beans	Glycine max	Yes	↓NF-𝜅𝛽	Genistein	[26]
Thyme	Thymus vulgaris	Yes	↓Cox-2	Rosmarinic/luteolin	[28]
Turmeric	Curcuma longa	Yes	↓NF-𝜅𝛽; ↑apoptosis	Curcumin; (aka curcuminoids)	[27]

N.D.: not determined; aka: also known as; NF-𝜅𝛽: nuclear factor kappa B; Cox-2: cyclooxygenase isoform 2; ↓: decrease in activity; ↑: increase in activity.