Start incorporating these spices into your diet, and you can see a difference in as little as two weeks. Your food will taste a lot more interesting also.

Cinnamon

Is one of the best spices you can consume for weight loss. Cinnamon helps to regulate your blood sugar levels, preventing them from spiking after you eat a meal. Consuming at least a gram of cinnamon a day has been shown to reduce fasting blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

Cinnamon makes an excellent flavour additive for desserts, beverages, and fruits or sprinkled on a dish.

Ginger

Improves digestion, helping you to get more nutrients out of the food you eat while preventing digestive ailments. It also provides a slight boost to your metabolic rate.

Ginger is commonly used in Asian dishes.

Turmeric

Turmeric can provide a mild earthy flavour that blends well with other spices, without overpowering the other flavours in the dish. It’s commonly used in curries, particularly Indian recipes.

Turmeric improves digestion while reducing bloating and gas symptoms. More importantly, it’s loaded with cancer-fighting anti-oxidants. It also appears to lower fat gain and cancer risk.

Mint

Mint has been shown to reduce stress, raise alertness, and lower cortisol levels.  Chronically elevated cortisol levels lead to excess belly fat storage and an increased risk of cancer. Lowering cortisol is one of the best things anyone can do for both fat loss and overall health.

Mint can be a great ingredient in salads or desserts, or can be used to flavour ice water.

Cumin

Another spice that aids in blood sugar control, cumin has a smoky flavour, it has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and lower body fat levels in lab studies.

Saffron

Acts as an appetite suppressant, reducing total food consumption.

Cardamom

This aromatic spice can aid digestion or reduce sugar cravings, and also acts as a natural breath freshener. Use it in soups, bean and lentil dishes, or cooked vegetable dishes, or add it directly to a tea.

Pepper

Used in just about everything, pepper gets its hot flavour from a chemical called capsicum. The hotter the better- more heat means your body is burning more energy.

When black pepper is consumed in conjunction with turmeric, it increases the absorption of the turmeric by as much as 2000%. Try combining the two when you want to make a spicy dish.

Garlic

Garlic has a surprising variety of health benefits. It helps fat loss by raising body temperature and reducing fat storage. At the same time, it mitigates some of the side effects of obesity, like heart disease and elevated cholesterol. Finally, it has been demonstrated to have both anticancer and antibacterial properties, making it an excellent addition for long-term health, and worth adding to your diet when you get sick.

Mustard

Mustard seeds contain omega-3s, as well as selenium, which helps your body eliminate heavy metals like Mercury. But what few people realise is that mustard (the condiment, not the seeds) also contains turmeric and capsicum.

As such, a high-quality mustard can offer the benefits of all these ingredients: fat loss, better digestion, and cancer-fighting antioxidants.  Check ingredients and look for a mustard that has a stronger flavour and no added sugars.

Fenugreek

Fenugreek is a traditional ingredient in middle eastern, east Africa, and some Indian cuisines. While it is traditionally believed to aid digestion, it is mainly useful for lowering blood sugar levels and improving insulin sensitivity.