At the Herbal Academy of New England, one of our greatest joys is to witness the deepening relationship between the students in our online herbalism programs and the plants and herbs already in their homes—common spices like coriander, cinnamon, thyme, cumin, and clove. Simply by opening a kitchen cabinet, a student steps into the world of herbalism through their own familiar collection of herbs and spices bursting with vibrant and fragrant medicine.
Kitchen Medicine
Humans have been pinching, dashing, and tossing herbs and spices into pots and pans since ancient times. Many culinary herbs are high in volatile oils, which aid digestion and relax our nervous systems. Others are rich in antioxidants that offer protection from DNA damage, as well as enhance the activity of the body’s own antioxidant enzymes. Spices like turmeric, clove, rosemary, and ginger contain plant compounds that even in small amounts bring us health and vitality, while creating depth of flavor and preventing spoilage in our food.
A student need not venture even as far as the spice cabinet before encountering a potent herb that is often overlooked as people reach for more exotic healers. But this small, dried berry was once considered exotic, and so rare and expensive that it was kept under lock and key. In times past, it was used as currency, ransom, and sacred offerings.
Black pepper, the king of spices, has been part of Indian cooking and medicinal traditions for thousands of years, and now sits next to almost every saltshaker on countless tables across North America.
Black pepper is the fruit of Piper nigrum (Piperaceae), a vine native to South India and primarily cultivated on India’s Malabar coast, Sumatra, and in Vietnam. It is the most traded spice in the world. Piper nigrum, depending on how it is processed and prepared, produces white, red, orange, green, or black peppercorns, all of which are unique in taste and scent.
Black Pepper in Herbalism
Ayurvedic practitioners use black pepper to improve digestion and to address gastrointestinal problems and colds. Black pepper is also used as a warming herb for kapha imbalances, as well as for headaches, urinary problems, and toothache. Masala chai, a delicious traditional Indian brew, features black peppercorns as well as other common kitchen herbs high in antioxidants like clove and cardamom.
Similarly, Western herbalists use black pepper for cold and flus, as a diaphoretic to stimulate sweating, carminative to help with digestion, anti-inflammatory, and as a diuretic. It is also used to enhance circulation, and is included in preventatives like fire cider, a traditional folk formula of apple cider vinegar infused with kitchen herbs and spices.
The taste of black pepper on the tongue triggers the stomach to release hydrochloric acid, which is needed to digest protein, and stimulates digestive enzymes in the pancreas. Black pepper has been found to significantly enhance the activity of the body’s natural killer cells, and has anti-tumor and anti-mutagenic properties.
Black Pepper Health Concerns
Because not enough information is available to determine safety in pregnant and breastfeeding women, only culinary amounts of black pepper should be used by those who are pregnant and breastfeeding. Black pepper may inhibit drug metabolism so should be used with caution, if at all, by those taking pharmaceutical medications (talk with your doctor). It is not recommended to take pepper in very large amounts—fortunately culinary amounts (1/2 – 1 teaspoon) can be very effective!
There have been some concerns raised about a constituent called safrole, which is found in very small amounts in black pepper as well as other herbs like basil, star anise, nutmeg, and ginger. This constituent was given a bad rap after being isolated and injected in large amounts into rats, who then developed liver cancer. However, injecting large amounts of an isolated plant chemical into a non-human species tells us nothing about the effect on humans who eat small amounts of the whole plant. In contrast, the research data on humans and whole black pepper indicates the opposite: that black pepper is anti-carcinogenic. Regardless, safrole significantly decreases when peppercorns are cooked and dried according to traditional preparation methods.
