The Surprising Health Benefits of Vanilla Extract

Besides it delicious flavor, the vanilla extract also has a multitude of health benefits. This is why alternative medicine uses it often in order to heal diverse conditions, such as cardiovascular issues.

The extract of this plant is made by placing vanilla beans in some alcohol and letting them stay there for a few weeks. The result is a dark liquid with an amazing vanilla scent. Even though such an extract is high in alcohol, you should not worry about it when baking or cooking, because the high temperature helps it to evaporate. This way, you can take advantage of the vanilla proprieties without suffering because of the alcohol. This is also an excellent way of helping your children to take advantage of the amazing benefits of vanilla, too.

• Antioxidant

One of the most famous proprieties of vanilla extract is its antioxidant activity. Studies have proven that this extract can keep up to 90% of the antioxidants of unprocessed vanilla. Some of these are vanillin and vanillic acid, both helping your body to fight the damage of free radicals and toxins. In fact, antioxidants promote overall health and protect each cell of your body.

• Anti-Inflammatory Proprieties

At the moment, researchers have the evidence of the anti-inflammatory proprieties of vanilla and vanilla extract on animals. The European Journal of Pharmacology published in 2011 an animal study, which proved the anti-inflammatory abilities of this aromatic spice. Furthermore, the results of the research also indicated significant liver-protective proprieties of vanilla.

• Lowers the Cholesterol Level

A high cholesterol level is a leading cause for a wide variety of health problems, especially cardiovascular diseases. For this reason, you have to keep it under control all the time. Scientific studies show that vanilla extract can help you with this problem, too. The Indian Journal of Experimental Biology published an animal study, which revealed that vanilla extract had lowered the total blood cholesterol dramatically in only 45 days. The rats were fed with foods high in fats so that the results were even more surprising. However, the amount of vanilla extract was also high, not the usual quantity found in a vanilla dessert.

• Antimutagenic Effects or Cancer-Fighting Proprieties

If the other proprieties of vanilla extract are no surprise, the cancer-fighting ones are definitely fantastic news. But how is it possible for vanilla to fight this cruel disease? The active compound which has a significant role in combating cancer is vanillin. Recent scientific studies have proven that this organic compound has antimutagenic effects on cells. Cancer is triggered by mutations in the cell’s DNA, so in order to treat cancer, you must fix this problem. To put is simply, vanilla extract helps cells to stay healthy and reduces their mutations.

Moreover, vanilla is also efficient when it comes to inhibiting cancer cell growth and oxidative stress so that the healthy cells can remain undamaged. Other treatments affect both sick and healthy cells, but this one is targeted only on cancerous mutations. In fact, it acts as a protection for the other cells and keeps them away from the cancerous ones.

Furthermore, other studies revealed that if ingested when following a cancer treatment, vanilla extract enhances its effects.