Herb Series #2: Cilantro
Benefits + 13 recipes to try this summer.
Hey there!
In last week's post I highlighted the benefits of basil on reducing inflammation, slowing aging at the cellular level, and promoting longevity, and today we're going to explore cilantro.
Cilantro originates from regions of the Mediterranean and Middle East, where the fresh leaves and seeds (also known as coriander) have been used for culinary and medicinal purposes for thousands of years.
Cilantro is low in calories but high in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. A quarter cup of cilantro leaves provides 14% the RDA for vitamin K, which is needed for blood clotting, wound healing, and bone health. It also contains vitamin A, vitamin C, and folate.
This herb provides many benefits on our health including elimination heavy metals from the body, reducing inflammation, soothing skin irritations, and inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria.
Let's explore each of these further!
1. Heavy Metal Detoxification
One of the top properties that cilantro is well-known for is its ability to detox heavy metals from the body.
Heavy metals are commonly found in foods and products that we're using on a daily basis such as aluminum in deodorants, aluminum foil used for cooking, mercury found in large fish like bluefin tuna (skipjack tuna is lowest in mercury), and arsenic and lead found in many supplements and spices (see sources list below for the heavy metals found in various brands of common spices).
Prolonged exposure to heavy metals can have toxic effects on our health overtime, as they accumulate in vital organs like the liver, kidneys, and brain disrupting their function and contributing to dysfunction and disease.
Buildup of heavy metals in the liver, for example, is associated with liver damage, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and elevated liver enzymes (a sign of damage or inflammation to the liver).
Cilantro is a natural chelator that binds to heavy metals including aluminum, mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium, helping to eliminate them from the body and reducing the toxic effects they have on our health.
The ability of cilantro to remove heavy metals is especially critical in the brain, since these metals are able to cross the blood-brain barrier and disrupt normal cognitive function.
If not eliminated, heavy metals accumulate in the brain leading to oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, damage to brain cells, and irreversible brain damage.
Research shows that accumulation of heavy metals in the brain is associated with various neurological diseases including Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, autism, and Parkinson's disease.
While people tend to either love or hate the taste of cilantro, having an aversion to the taste may actually be a sign that the body desperately needs it to remove heavy metals.
According to the book Life-Changing Foods, aversion to cilantro indicates high levels of heavy metals in the body, creating a harsh or soapy taste when cilantro makes contact with heavy metals in the saliva.
Incorporating cilantro into your diet is a simple and effective way to reduce and eliminate heavy metals from the body, ultimately protecting us from the damaging effects that they can have.
2. Anti-Inflammatory & Antioxidant Properties
Cilantro has an ORAC antioxidant score of 5,141 per 100 grams (about ¼ cup of cilantro leaves).
Over 33 phytochemicals have been identified in cilantro and coriander that attribute to the herb's anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.