7 Evidence-Based Health Benefits Of Cardamom

If we told you that there was a common ingredient in your spice rack that could help to lower your blood pressure, may be able to treat infections, can improve your digestion, and has even been studied for its cancer-fighting properties - would you believe us? Well, you should! Because this remarkable ingredient is cardamom. 
Cardamom has been used in ancient medicines for many centuries and still features prominently in Ayurveda medicine to this day. Below we’ve listed just seven of the health benefits associated with cardamom, all of which are backed by science.

Cardamom help lower blood pressure

If left untreated, high blood pressure can increase your risk of a heart attack, stroke, dementia, or embolism and so it is essential to monitor your blood pressure levels to keep them under control. There are a number of medications available to help those with hypertension, including, who would have thought - cardamom! In one study, cardamom powder successfully decreased participants’ high-blood pressure to within normal ranges within a 12 week period, while also increasing their antioxidant levels by 90%!

Can Aid Your Digestion

Cardamom has been used to help digestion and to ease stomach pains and nausea for thousands of years. Recently, studies have focused on cardamoms ability to assist with the healing of gastric ulcers, with one study in rats finding that cardamom extract alone was able to reduce the size of the rat’s stomach ulcers by at least 50%!

Certain compounds in cardamom could help us find the cure for cancer

Several promising animal studies have been conducted on the cancer-fighting properties of cardamom with human test-tube studies finding similar results. Although more research still needs to be conducted to determine if the compounds in cardamom could help us develop the cure for cancer in humans, initial studies have been promising. 

Cardamom kills common mouth bacteria and can protect you from cavities

The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, all chewed cardamom to freshen their breath and to improve their oral hygiene, a practice that is still conducted to this day in some cultures. The reason why cardamom is so effective at freshening the breath is that cardamom is a powerful antibacterial and antimicrobial and so kills some of the leading varieties of mouth bacteria that, if left untreated, lead to bad breath and cavities. 

Cardamom can be used to treat infections

Aside from killing bacteria in the mouth, cardamom extract and essential oils have also been found to be effective in fighting several other common strains of bacteria. In fact, in some studies, cardamom was as effective or more effective than standard drugs against E.coli and Staphylococcus!

Cardamom can help you breath more easily

Cardamom can lower your blood sugar levels