Health Benefits of Fresh Herbs

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You may want to consider adding fresh herbs to your grocery list this week. While I used to think fresh herbs were just a waste of money, I have found their flavor in cooking is unparalleled and often completes the dish that I am cooking. Not only this but there are numerous health benefits to adding some fresh herbs to your cooking.

If you’ve ever tasted some delicious tacos topped with fresh cilantro or had some freshly homemade pesto, you may know how much flavor fresh herbs truly can deliver.

While some herbs are just as potent in their dried and ground form, I’ve found some herbs vary immensely based on whether they are in their dried or fresh form. For instance, my husband bought some dried parsley flakes to add to dishes to boost flavor. I can tell you these taste like straight up nothing. They don’t even begin to compare with the flavor from the leaves snipped off my parsley plant growing in my garden box.

Why You Should Add Fresh Herbs to Your Cooking

Herbs are a lot more than just flavor, as their numerous health benefits have been reaped for centuries. Herbs and spices has shown multiple health benefits in studies. Research is showing that they contain antimicrobial and antifungal properties, have powerful antioxidants, fight inflammation, fight cancer, and have mechanisms that prevent tumors.

Besides herbs being generally healthy, there are some reasons you should consider adding fresh herbs to your diet as well.

1. Can Stay Fresh and Flavorful

Some people don’t want to buy fresh herbs because they complain that these herbs go bad too quickly.

Well, dried herbs may not last as long as you might think…

According to the cooking experts over at Bon Appetit, you shouldn’t keep ground spices for more than 3 months, and whole spices for more than 8-10 months. The reasoning behind this is that, once spices are dried and ground, they are exposed to oxygen which starts to dilute them and make them less flavorful over time.

While the shelf life of a fresh bunch of parsley is not going to be 3 months, there is one way to help it last longer. When you get your fresh herbs home make sure you cut off the bottoms and put the bunch in a glass of water in the fridge. This will help your green herbs stay fresh for 7-10 days. If you are creative you can find many ways to use these herbs up in that amount of time!

The best way to keep super fresh, flavorful herbs around is by growing them in your own backyard! This can be easily done and added to garden boxes, pots, or even as part of your landscaping around your house.

2. Fresh Herbs Have More Nutrients

Many herbs lose some of the nutrients and vitamins in the drying process. For example, lets look at 1 ounce of fresh basil compared to 1 tablespoon of dried basil, which is essentially the same amount.

Some of the nutrients found in 1 ounce of fresh basil:

• 30% Daily Value of Vitamin A
• 145% Daily Value of Vitamin K
• 8% Daily Value of Vitamin C
• 88 mg omega-3 fatty acids

Compared to:

1 Tablespoon dried basil:

• 4% Daily Value of Vitamin A
• 43% Daily Value of Vitamin K
• 2% Daily Value of Vitamin C
• 33mg omega-3 fatty acids

While dried basil still has many nutritional benefits, there are more nutrients found in fresh basil. Particularly while it is in season, it is a healthy choice to add this powerful fresh herb to many of your dishes!

Source: https://nutritionovereasy.com/2011/04/do-dried-herbs-and-spices-have-nutritional-value/

3. Contain Healthy Essential Oils

Many of the studies done on health benefits of herbs actually use a more concentrated form of these herbs: essential oils. Fresh herbs that are picked and immediately added to your food is going to contain the most of these healthy essential oils. Herbs lose many of these essential oils when they are dried, and even more as they get older.

4. Fresh Herbs Add Extra Nutrients to Dishes

Some fresh herbs, including parsley, cilantro, mint, and chopped basil add the most flavor when they are added to dishes after the cooking process. Not only does this further help them to retain their flavor, but it also helps them contain the most amount of nutrients for your body.

If you are adventurous, you can add fresh herbs to some of your staple dishes for added nutrients and a boosted flavor profile. It’s a great way to get in some extra vitamins and antioxidants that were not there before and it looks great as a garnish too!

5. Cost Effective

Often fresh herbs are avoided because people think they are something only rich people or fancy chefs can afford. But using fresh herbs can be affordable!

The cheapest way to obtain fresh herbs is by growing them yourself. You don’t need a big backyard, just a few pots, garden box, or small spot in your yard. Purchase some seeds or an organic small plant and you will continuously reap the benefits of your plant as it grows bigger.

Even if you don’t choose to grow your own herbs, some herbs are quite budget friendly. Parsley, cilantro, and green onions are often between fifty cents and one dollar — very reasonable and it will last you all week!

So What About Dried Herbs?

Many people only use dried herbs in their cooking and, I believe, could greatly benefit from adding fresh herbs to their dishes. Fresh herbs have healthy essential oils with healing properties and can add distinct flavor to dishes.

However, there is still much value in using dried herbs and spices, just make sure they are not old. First, it would be impossible to cook with the broad range of seasonings if you only used fresh herbs! That kitchen would look like a greenhouse!

Also, research points to the fact that dried herbs are still rich in polyphenolic compounds and antioxidants, so we are still getting health benefits from them as well.

Dried herbs can also be useful when you are making soups or stews that have a long cook time and give the flavor of the dried herb time to infuse into your dish. Some herbs, such as bay leaves, can actually have a more concentrated flavor when dried. On the other hand, green leaf herbs such as basil, parsley, dill weed, chives, tarragon, mint, and cilantro are some herbs worth purchasing fresh.

More research needs to be conducted on herbs to determine exactly what compounds are the most beneficial to your health. This is why I recommend eating both fresh and dried herbs, so that you are getting as many herbs in your diet as possible and diversifying the herbs you eat (since you can’t possible grow all of them).

Herbs and spices are shown to be helpful in cancer prevention, so go ahead and add those savory herbs to your dish and then top it with some fresh parsley as well!

Ways to Add Fresh Herbs to Your Diet

• Sprinkle fresh chopped basil on top of pasta or pizza.
• Add fresh sprigs of rosemary to chicken noodle soup.
• Roast chicken or turkey with sprigs of thyme and rosemary.
• Add fresh chopped cilantro or parsley to various kinds of salads. (I love making a fresh lentil salad with just olive oil, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, lemon juice, and plenty of fresh parsley and chopped basil. I will also make Thai themed quinoa bowls for my husband to take to work and top with fresh cilantro!)
• Add chopped cilantro to tacos or in burritos.
• Add a generous dose of chopped parsley on top of finished dishes – I like to add some to alfredo, on top of fish, with lentil dishes… many things go well with the easy-going flavor of parsley!
• Try making an herbed potato salad.
• Experiment with different cultural dishes. I love some Lebanese rice that I’ll top with some fresh mint. Mediterranean cuisine is another thing I love! Make a yogurt dipping sauce with some fresh dill and fresh mint!

Once you experience some of the fresh flavors of these herbs, you’ll be able to just add them to dishes you know that will compliment the flavors. You’ll find with added flavor you don’t have a need for too much salt or added artificial flavors.  

Challenge

This week I challenge you to pick up at least one bunch of fresh herbs, maybe even two if you’re feeling adventurous! Be creative and see what meals you can add some extra nutrients to or find some new recipes to try that utilize the herbs of your choice.

You don’t have to be a culinary whiz to experience the flavor and health benefits that come with fresh herbs. Start small, see how you like the added flavor and who knows, before you know it you may be growing an herb garden of your own 😉

Let me know in the comments which fresh herb you’re going to try! Or have you had success cooking with or growing fresh herbs?

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