
Lavender In The Kitchen: Healthy Tips&Tricks
I love lavender in the kitchen both as a decorative plant and as a cooking ingredient. Recently I have investigate a bit and found out which are the benefits of lavender. Enjoy the story, the smell and the taste!
One of my yoga teachers brings essential oils in spray bottles to class so we can spritz our wrists or yoga mats with them. She brings several scents to choose from usually lemon, lavender, and frankincense. I like them all, but began to wonder what are the particular benefits of each one.
Lavender is one of the most popular selections in class and out in the world you see a multitude of lavender products.
Lavender products are said to promote good sleep and calmness. That’s exactly what we all need these days.
Given the fact that I always feel like I need more calmness and certainly better sleep, not to mention the fact that I’m growing four large lavender plants I decided to investigate. It appears that the benefits of lavender can be had in two ways, either by ingesting it or is via its scent (essential oils included).
Lavender In the Kitchen
You can buy lavender supplements to get the food benefits. But why would you when you can cook with it and produce some really interesting and unusual tasting food?
- Lavender is full of polyphenols which research shows have a number of health benefits such as helping to prevent heart disease and lowering cholesterol levels.
- These same polyphenols also support good gut health and help to slow degenerative diseases.
- Dried crushed lavender buds are traditionally used in the French herb blend Herbe’s d’Provence.
- Dried lavender buds are also used in desserts and baked goods where they are steeped in milk and the lavender-flavored milk is then used as part of the recipe.
Lavender Aromatherapy
Inhaling lavender scent produces a different set of benefits. Aromatherapy involves inhaling essential oils and selected scents that stimulate smell receptors to send messages to the brain that can influence your mood.
In aromatherapy lavender is used to reduce stress and anxiety and to promote a sense of calmness.
One also finds lavender scented pillows to help promote restful sleep and even if they don’t help you to sleep better think about how nice it would be to fall asleep on a sweet smelling pillow! Gives new meaning to wishing someone “sweet dreams”.
Using one of the recipes with lavender infused milk can bring you the best of both worlds since you will get to eat the herb as well as inhaling the delightful aroma while you are making the infusion. And what better recipe for Christmas than lavender scones? Stay tuned for our secret last minute Christmas delight!
SparkYourBloom Today And Everyday!