Include clove in your diet for overall health; image credit: iStock

Cloves are a super spice –small in appearance but very big on benefits. These small dried flower buds from an evergreen tree have a strong taste and lots of beneficial qualities. In India, cloves can be found in most kitchen shelves and are mostly used to enhance the taste of Indian dishes. This medicinal spice not only makes food mouth-watering but has a magical effect on our bodies too. Most exotic dishes in India have cloves added in them to give them that extra taste and flavor. Due to the presence of Eugenol in cloves, it helps to keep lots of ailments like stress, Parkinson's, toothache, and body ache at bay. The presence of essential elements like vitamin E, C, A, D, omega 3 fatty acids, folate, riboflavin and thiamine, and the anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties in cloves help to get rid of many health-related problems when eaten regularly.

Cloves keep your body healthy both internally and externally. Some benefits worth mentioning are:

Eating cloves with warm water at night works like magic for the stomach, it relieves constipation, acidity, and diarrhea. Most of our problems are reduced if our digestive system is working properly and cloves help a lot in this case.

As our grandmothers used to say eat a clove if your teeth is troubling you. Consume clove with warm water or just keep sucking on it to get rid of worms. It kills the bacteria in your mouth, tongue and upper part of the throat, thus removing bad odour and making your breath fresh. Chewing a clove or gargling with its solution is the best way to get rid of bad breath.  Cloves are considered miracle workers for toothache.

For a weak immune system consuming a clove daily is very beneficial. Cold, cough, viral infection, bronchitis, sinus, and asthma can all be cured by eating one clove daily. Cloves have anti-viral and blood purification properties which help to reduce toxicity in blood and increase resistance of the body against a multitude of diseases. It encourages antioxidant activity and thus gives a boost to the immune system.

In India whenever we are stressed out we tend to drink tea, but if clove is added to it, it can give you great relief from stress and soothe your senses too. Clove tea relaxes us and reduces muscle spasm. For a stress-free body, a clove oil massage is highly recommended. In fact, they are very popular in spas as they reduce mental exhaustion, fatigue, anxiety, and tension.

Topical application of clove oil is very good for removing acne. Its antimicrobial properties help in treating acne. For clear and healthy skin apply love oil mixed with other essential oils; it will exfoliate blemishes and scars.

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Cloves are wonderful, versatile, and add flavor and aroma to food but should be consumed in limit. As with all spices, cloves too should be used with caution, adding it to everything is not always a safe option. Consuming it in large amounts is a serious no no. Being quite strong it causes burning sensation or irritation and may have some repercussions.

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