In this post I will be discussing the many benefits of using cloves in your cooking. Cloves are an aromatic spice that has been used for centuries in many different cuisines around the world. They are a popular ingredient in Indian, Chinese, and Middle Eastern dishes, as well as in many European recipes. Cloves are known for their intense flavor and aroma, and they can be used to add a unique and delicious taste to any dish. Cloves also have many health benefits, as they contain high levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. In addition, cloves are a great source of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, making them a nutritious addition to any meal. I will also provide tips on how to use cloves in your cooking, and some ideas for recipes that you can make with them. I hope that this post will help you to learn more about the amazing benefits of using cloves in the kitchen.
Cloves Nutrition Facts and Calories Chart
It is a small, but mighty, spice. They are a good source of fiber, vitamin C, calcium, iron, magnesium, and manganese, as well as a good source of dietary antioxidants. Nutritional value per 100 g cloves:
- Biotin: 0.1 µg
- Calcium: 362 mg
- Carbohydrates (Carbs): 59.85 g
- Chloride: 0.6 mg
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Choline: 0.9 mg
- Chromium: 0.5 µg
- Copper: 0.5 mg
- Dietary Fiber: 15.6 g
- Energy (Calories): 277 kcal
- Fat: 6.35 g
- Iodine: 0.1 µg
- Iron: 8.7 mg
- Magnesium: 168 mg
- Manganese: 5.3 mg
- Molybdenum: 0.3 µg
- Pantothenic Acid: 0.1 mg
- Phosphorus: 140 mg
- Potassium: 981 mg
- Protein: 7.63 g
- Saturated fat: 4.32 g
- Selenium: 0.2 µg
- Sodium: 0.4 mg
- Sugars: 1.4 g
- Vitamin A: 0 IU
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamin): 0.9 mg
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): 0.3 mg
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin): 4.3 mg
- Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B6: 0.6 mg
- Vitamin B9 (Folate / Folic Acid): 11 µg
- Vitamin B12: 0 µg
- Vitamin C: 18.9 mg
- Vitamin D: 0 IU
- Vitamin E: 0.19 mg
- Vitamin K: 11.2 µg
- Water: 7.3 g
- Zinc: 1.3 mg
Cloves in India
This aromatic herbal spice which is hot, pungent, oily and sharp. Cloves have been used for flavoring for around 2,000 years and were known in Roman times as an fascinating spice. The Chinese have used them medicinally since around 600 A.D., regarding them as a kidney tonic to increase yang energy and treat impotence. Originally from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, cloves hold a revered place in Asian herbal medicine and cuisine.
- Scientific Binomial: Syzygium aromaticum
- Common English: Clove
- Ayurvedic: Lavanga / Devakusum / Devapushpa / Shrisangya / Shriprasuunaka
- Unani: Qaranful
- Sanskrit: Lakshmi Pushpa / Sugandhi Triphala
- Hindi / Urdu: Laung
- Bengali: Labango
- Marathi: Lavang
- Telugu: Lavangalu
- Tamil: Kiraambu / Lavangam / Grambu
- Gujarati
- Kannada: Krambu
- Malayalam: Karayam Poo / Granpu
- Oriya
- Punjabi / Sindhi
- Assamese
- Kashmiri
- Konkani
- Manipuri
- Dogri
- Bhojpuri
Home Remedies
It is an analgesic with powerful germicidal properties. Cloves have been known to reduce fever. Often prepared as a decoction or infusion it can be made more palatable by adding cinnamon and apple peel. Cloves can be used in powder form with vegetables and fruits. Ground cloves may also be taken into tea. Cloves are useful for disguising the taste of more unpleasant herbs, so a couple of the dried flower buds added to an herbal mixture for stomach upsets or chills can often make the brew more palatable. In many parts of the East, clove oil is also used for abdominal massage during labor to encourage contractions and ease pain.
- Prevent Food Poisoning: A potent antiseptic, cloves added to food help prevent food born infection and food poisoning.
- First Aid Remedy: The essential oil is an excellent first aid remedy for mouth ulcers, toothache, and nerve pain in general.
- Asthma: If you have chronic bronchial asthma, try this remedy. Insert about 7 cloves into a peeled banana, and keep it overnight. Next morning eat the banana and the cloves. Don’t eat anything for an hour, then drink 1 cup of hot water with 1 teaspoon of honey. This will energize the lungs and should reduce asthmatic wheezing.
- Sore Throat: For coughs try making your own sore throat syrup. For a throat soothing syrup, mix 5 or 6 cloves with 1 cup honey and leave the mixture in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, remove the cloves and take 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon of the honey as needed. Cloves dull the pain of a sore throat, while honey soothes inflamed throat tissues.
- Decongestion: Dry ginger (1/2 teaspoon), cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon) and cloves (a pinch) are excellent and promote decongestion. Consume tea made with all 3 herbs that are aromatic and cleansing to the nostrils as well. Sweeten with a little honey and lemon to make the tea easier to drink if you are sensitive to strong flavors.
- Productive Cough: You can also try 1 teaspoon honey mixed with a pinch of clove powder, 2 or 3 times a day to treat productive cough.
- Shingles: The diluted oil (3% concentration) may be applied to the skin to relieve nerve pain in the body, such as in shingles.
- IBS: Cloves are mildly anesthetic, it is worth trying in irritable bowel syndrome, where it may reduce nerve sensitivity within the gut, easing spasms and urgency.
- Mouthwash: A herbal mouthwash made with cloves is very effective not only for bad breath but also to kill germs, soothe a scratchy throat and even to stop heartburn. To make the tea, pour a cup of just boiled water over 1 or 2 teaspoons of bruised cloves, steep, strain, then let cool. OR add 2 tablespoons of bruised cloves to a pint of vodka, sherry, or light wine, let sit for a week, then strain and bottle. To use as a mouthwash, add 1 to 3 teaspoons to water.
- Labor Pain: Drinking teas flavored with plenty of cloves during the second stage of labor can help ease childbirth pains.
- Dry Cough: Chewing a piece of clove with rock candy helps to alleviate a dry cough. Rock candy is recommended so that it clove will not create a burning sensation on tongue as it is hot in nature.
- Relieve Nasal Obstruction: Cloves are also helpful to treat coughs, congestion, colds and sinus problems. A few drops of clove oil may be added to boiling water and fumes may then be inhaled as a decongestant. This will relieve nasal obstruction and congestion.
- Herbal Tea: Practitioners of Ayurveda, the traditional medicine of India, recommend a spice tea that you can drink several times a day. To make the tea, add a half-teaspoon powdered ginger and a pinch each of clove and cinnamon powder to a cupful of just boiled water and drink.
Side Effects
Rare allergic reactions to clove oil have been documented in a few people. If you experience any sign of irritation on your gums or the lining of your mouth, stop using it immediately. Cloves should be reserved for labor and childbirth and not taken earlier in pregnancy. Too high a dosage can be irritating to the mucosa.
FAQs.
Q. How do I use cloves for toothache?
Cloves are often associated with Mexican and Indian cuisine and old recipes that grandma used to make. Medicinally, clove oil is a well known remedy for toothache. Cloves are rich in eugenol, a potent antibacterial. Clove oil is available from many pharmacies and is useful as an emergency first aid remedy for toothache. Here are different ways to use it. Choose the one as per your requirement.
- Direct Application: Use clove oil for toothache, applied directly to the painful tooth. Put a few drops of clove oil on a cotton swab and place on the gum nearest to the aching tooth.
- Gargle: A clove and saltwater gargle can stop pain, but be careful of allergies to cloves. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3 drops pure clove essential oil to about 6 ounces of warm water in a glass. Stir until the salt dissolves. Swish small mouthfuls of this mixture around the painful tooth. Spit; don’t swallow. Repeat as needed.
- Tincture: Get a tincture of clove and rub on the tooth.
- Whole Clove: Suck a dried clove, holding the flower bud as close as possible to the painful tooth. OR Just chewing cloves a very old remedy for toothache which eases pain and reduces inflammation.