Indian food is well known for its colourful appearance and its spicy taste. This food, which ranges from vegetarian to meat products such us chicken, lamb or pork offers a rich combination of tastes that will seem everything except boring. The variation of spices Indians use have many medicinal properties and health benefits. Here are the most common ones:

Coriander

India is one of the main producers in the world of this herb, which in this country is called Dhania. The benefits of coriander are numerous and help in the treatment of: skin inflammation, high cholesterol levels, diarrhoea, mouth ulcers, anaemia,indigestion, menstrual disorders, irritable bowel syndrome and diabetes.

Chillies

Most Indian food is highly spicy. Even though few of us can handle food that spicy(it requires some training) you should at least make an attempt with mild dishes. After all, chillies are well known for battling against colds and obesity, preventing strokes, and even killing some cancer cells. It also produces serotonin, which makes us happier!

Ginger

Being very aromatic and spicy it gives the Indian dishes a special taste. It has been proved to be as well very powerful against digestive problems and a great remedy for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Nigeria, with more than hundred different ethnic groups, is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. Therefore, one can imagine how diverse its cuisine is, and that is hard to say what the National dishes are. The topic Nigerian cuisine could lead us to dozens of pages, though you can find common dishes amongst all the ethnic groups, and besides of course there are many similarities like the use of certain spices and herbs, which are the main known secret of Nigerian food; usually very hot and cooked in peanut or palm oil.

Rice and bean-based dishes are typical starters. Tuwo Masara (a corn flour dish) and Tuwon Shinkafa (thick rice pudding eaten with goat stew or pumpkin stew with goat and fish) are very popular in the north of the country. This area is mainly Muslim so they do not eat pork.

Meat is used in most Nigerian dishes and it is normally quite spicy (not suitable for beginners). Suya is a very famous exquisite meat, which is barbequed and marinated with chilly pepper and other spices.

Latin American food is highly diverse so let´s be clear and start by saying that it is complicated to generalize about Latin cuisine as taking into account the vast territory that this culture occupies, vary from country to country. Nevertheless, there are some staples of this diet: most of them include maize-based dishes like arepas, tortillas and tacos, they use plenty of condiments which are normally spicy and always make use of salsas. Furthermore, Latinos will never skip rice or beans as a side order.

This colourful and tasty food is a result of the combination of different cuisines: Native, African, European, Asian and Caribbean. Their Hispanic heritage has always been present and there are many recipes that travel from generation to generation.

Truth is, that despite being a healthy diet the current cooking methods (abusing of deep-frying, excess of carbohydrates and exaggerated amounts of food) have jeopardized the healthy nature of this food rich in fibre, vitamins and proteins. Here are some tips to stick to healthy cooking methods and reduce obesity and high cholesterol:

All experts agree on the same. A balanced diet is the base for a healthy life. The daily stress, living in big cities and the disconnection from nature sometimes, makes eating healthy a difficult task.

You have to ask yourself where your food comes from and try to gather as much information as possible of what you are buying. When buying meat: where and how was the animal bred? In case of vegetables: where were they grown? Did they use pesticides and herbicides? It is important to buy only seasonal and local ones; besides being cheaper they will be fresher, tastier and better for the environment.

Try as well to buy local fish and help reducing environmental damage due to unnecessary transportation. There are so many different species of fish that you can elaborate a healthy and balanced menu by combining them, but try to avoid the bigger ones as red tuna, swordfish or hake as they tend to accumulate mercury or other heavy metals.

When buying eggs, check out the first digit and choose the ones starting with 0, these are free-range chicken eggs while the other numbers follow different criteria, number 3 being eggs from caged hens. This applies for the chicken itself; you will recognize free-range chicken by its yellowish colour.