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Behold the wondrous powers of cloves
Apr. 20th, 2003 03:47 pmHappy Easter.
Today in my bored sitting-around-reading-syntax-texts time, I decided to make myself a cup of very cheap herbal tea by raiding the spice rack and adding hot water. Basically, I dumped a little ginger, a little cinnamon, a little nutmeg, and rather a lot of ground cloves into the mug. The result smelled lovely, needless to say - cloves have such a delightful and comforting scent - but even better was the effect after drinking it.
I felt warm, relaxed, slightly anesthetized, cozy, just great; not to mention my mouth tasted delicious. This overall effect doesn't often happen in my dabblings with herb tea, so I (made another cup and) got online and looked up the health benefits of cloves.
As it turns out, they are considered to be amazingly healthful. They contain eugenol, which is an anesthetic and an anti-bacterial agent: as I was dimly aware, dentists and pharmacists have used clove oil to ease toothache and other problems in the past. Furthermore, cloves have loads of flavonoids, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals, including incredible amounts of manganese. Not that I have any idea what manganese does for us. (See this page for all the scientific details.)
Other sources claim that cloves are soothing to the digestion, good for the circulation, and traditionally regarded as an aphrodisiac. Hah, just what I needed. As if I didn't already have the libidinous mind of an 18-year-old sailor.
Anyway, I am much impressed. You should all start consuming cloves in their non-cigarette-form right away.
Today in my bored sitting-around-reading-syntax-texts time, I decided to make myself a cup of very cheap herbal tea by raiding the spice rack and adding hot water. Basically, I dumped a little ginger, a little cinnamon, a little nutmeg, and rather a lot of ground cloves into the mug. The result smelled lovely, needless to say - cloves have such a delightful and comforting scent - but even better was the effect after drinking it.
I felt warm, relaxed, slightly anesthetized, cozy, just great; not to mention my mouth tasted delicious. This overall effect doesn't often happen in my dabblings with herb tea, so I (made another cup and) got online and looked up the health benefits of cloves.
As it turns out, they are considered to be amazingly healthful. They contain eugenol, which is an anesthetic and an anti-bacterial agent: as I was dimly aware, dentists and pharmacists have used clove oil to ease toothache and other problems in the past. Furthermore, cloves have loads of flavonoids, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals, including incredible amounts of manganese. Not that I have any idea what manganese does for us. (See this page for all the scientific details.)
Other sources claim that cloves are soothing to the digestion, good for the circulation, and traditionally regarded as an aphrodisiac. Hah, just what I needed. As if I didn't already have the libidinous mind of an 18-year-old sailor.
Anyway, I am much impressed. You should all start consuming cloves in their non-cigarette-form right away.
