Herbs and spices can transform dull, bland food into a delicious dish, but many also come with some unexpected health benefits. Beyond adding complex flavor to a variety of ingredients, many herbs and spices pack a plethora of health perks.  They can also be used in place of other flavor boosting substances. A little extra spice can remove the need for excess salt, and limiting your sodium intake is essential to preventing high blood pressure. Let's take a look at some of the more interesting ones.

Mint

There's many types of mint, including spearmint, peppermint, wild mint, and others. WebMD lists several uses for spearmint, like treating gas, indigestion, nausea, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, bile duct and gall bladder swelling, and gallstones. Spearmint was in the same study as rosemary, which found that spearmint oil helped with the memory mice as well. Spearmint has also been found to reduce and control excessive hair growth in women, according to a Turkish study in 2007.

Peppermint is useful toward treating colds, throat inflammation, sinus infections, and respiratory infections. According to Harvard Medical School and the University of Maryland Medical Center, peppermint has fared well in clinical trials and can be used for digestive issues, like irritable bowel syndrome, as the oil reduces spasms in the digestive tract.

Different types of mint are used as common flavoring agents for food, drink, and candies. Mint is also another great herb you can use in a variety of teas.

Ginger

Ginger is a root that was traditionally used to relieve colds and settle stomachs. It also contains gingerols, which may help fight some cancers and reduce arthritis pain. Its also been used to help with muscle soreness, menstrual pain, upper respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis. Ginger truly shines when being used for treating numerous types of nausea. According to the University of Maryland, some studies suggest it can help with motion sickness, morning sickness, gas, and diarrhea. Another study, in the 2012 issue of Arthritis, suggested that ginger can be a more effective pain remedy than ibuprofen. 

You can use ginger in many different foods. Try grating fresh ginger over veggies or noodles, using it in stir fry, putting it on meat, or even putting a little in your tea.

Turmeric

A distant relative of ginger, turmeric is one of the main components of curry powder. Curcumin, according to WebMD, is a substance found in turmeric that may help reduce inflammation and ease symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In some lab tests curcumin even blocked the growth of certain kinds of tumors. One study, at the Department of Pharmacology of Government Medical College in India, showed signs that curcumin can be used to safely and effectively treat serious states of depression. Turmeric also has 29% of your daily iron intake in one tablespoon.

Turmeric is one of the main ingredients in Indian cuisine, but can be used on lots of different foods. Use it while sauteing veggies or cooking fish, and put it on rice or in chicken soup.

Asafoetida
A strong spice with pungent flavour, asafoetida will change add flavour to Kashimiri dum aloo or paratha. However, Khatti Mitthi Dal is the best to describe how asafoetida can change the overall flavour of a simple dal. Right from treating asthma, coughs, bronchitis, this spice is beneficial in relieving painful menses in women.

Cumin Seeds

Popularly called Jeera, this is amongst the commonest of spices in Indian homes. Be it a fish curry in Bengal or Dhaba Dal in Punjab, cumin is also the most used spice.

The health benefits of cumin include relieving of pains, ranging from stomach pain and cramps. It can even be used in indigestion and diarrhoea. If you are looking for an iron supplement, nothing can beat cumin.

Cardamom

When you have a whole mountain in the southern part of India known after this spice, it ought to be an essential in Indian diet. Popular as elaichi, the mornings of average Indians begin with cardamom tea. Cooking chicken or sea food wouldn't have been possible had there be no cardamom. Health wise, cardamom contains chemicals that appear to treat stomach and intestinal spasms and gas, and increase the movement of food through the intestine.

Ajwain

Known for being the catalyst in Indian kitchen and having spicing the common paratha and dal, ajwain is better known for its medicinal value. Ajwain contains an alcoholic quality in a mild form, which makes it an instant reliever of stomach upset. For cold and cough, one can boil ajwain and drink the water 4 times a day. The varied benefits contained in ajwain include weight loss, cholera, kidney stones and acidity.