Cooking With Essential Oils for Nutrition and Flavor

Essential oils are touted for their help in the relief of stress, for their ability to induce good health and for their aromatic tendencies which help freshen up even the smelliest room. Many people are not aware, however, that you can also use essential oils to flavor your cooking and to increase the nutritional value of your food.

More than Just Flavor

Essential oils are not just good for flavoring your food. Studies have shown that many essential oils are actually antimicrobial in nature, which means that they can help to prevent foodborne illnesses. Citrus oils can bring a dose of vitamin C to your culinary creations and lavender offers proven results if you are looking for a calming effect to be imparted with the food that you have prepared.

Essential oils are often the concentrated versions of familiar spices that are used in cooking. Spices like bergamot, and sage or fruit extracts like lemon and orange have been staples in cooking for centuries. While other people are eating food that comes in a box that is not flavored with seasonings taken from real spices and extracts, you could be making your own meals at home with the added zest of essential oils to bolster the healthiness of your dishes.

There are many other ways to consumer essential oils, a popular one of course being via an essential oil diffuser. If you’re looking for the best essential oil diffuser for home, this article may be useful.

The Best Essential Oils for Flavor

While many essential oils are not suitable for cooking, there are some staples that make really excellent food because they are so full of flavor. Often you will only need a couple of drops of your essential oil to provide enough flavor for the whole meal. Here are some of the best essential oils for providing flavor to your cooking.

• Lavender oil. This is a versatile option and is great for drinks as well as food. Try it in lemonade for a fun twist on a classic!
• Peppermint. This essential oil is very aromatic and provides a lovely addition to honey, tea or even added to your favorite salad dressing. Peppermint can also be used to make your own toothpaste at home.
• Citrus. Orange, lemon and other citrus fruit oils can be added to smoothies, drink and even marinades. Citrus is highly versatile.
• Bergamot. This one is technically a citrus but it goes really well with some drinks and can be used in marinades as well.
• Cinnamon. A classic that pairs well with deserts, oatmeal, even teas and coffee. Cinnamon is one of the more aromatic oils so a little bit goes a long way.
• Cardamom. A staple in traditional Indian cooking, cardamom also pairs well with chai tea and is known to go well with almost any meat dish.

Essential oils can be a great way to add nutritional value and wonderful flavor to your diet. The best part about using essential oils compared to regular spices is that the essential oils are concentrated so you will get better results using only a few drops! Essential oils are the prefect blend of nutrition, flavor and health benefits to take your cooking to the next level.