Garnish Your Health with Cilantro (Coriander)

Did you know consuming Cilantro (also known as Coriander) increases your HDL (good cholesterol levels)?

One herb that you will always find in my refrigerator is Cilantro!! I just love using this herb generously in all my stews, curries, soups and anything else that I can think of while making a dish. Both cilantro leaves and cilantro seeds not only take your savory dishes to a whole new level but both have been used extensively in ayurvedic cooking and remedies. Here I would like to share coriander’s nutritional profile and ayurvedic uses.

Nutritional Profile

We need to get all our vitamins, minerals, nutrients from eating an optimum diet instead of popping multivitamins on a daily basis. For me it makes lot of sense, getting all the nutrients from nature’s bounty of veggies, fruits, grains, and nuts.

Now, get ready to know the phyto-nutrient profile of  Cilantro – this humble backyard herb!

(% of RDA/100g):
15% of folates,
11% of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine),
45% of vitamin C,
225% of vitamin A,
258% of vitamin K,
22% of iron and
18% of manganese

Good source of minerals like potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, and magnesium

(source:Power Your Diet)

You may ask how much is 100g of Cilantro – right? About 30g of Cilantro = 1cup.  Now, I don’t recommend eating 3-4 cups of Cilantro to get all the daily %RDA.  Eating broad spectrum of foods will give us the 100% RDA requirement. What I encourage is to not consider Cilantro as just a garnish on your plate but consume this savory herb in generous amounts in your daily meals to benefit from its nutritional rich composition.

Ayurvedic Insights

• Rasa (taste): bitter, pungent
• Virya (action): cooling
• Vipaka (post-digestive effect): pungent
• Doshas (vata, pitta, kapha): tridoshic, balancing for all doshas especially pitta

Coriander is one of the best house hold herbs supporting digestion without aggravating pitta. In Ayurveda it is commonly recommended to cool pitta related imbalances associated with menopause.  Coriander seeds in combination with other spices is used to make pitta pacifying ayurvedic teas. One thing to note is Coriander leaves and stems are very cooling in nature, coriander seeds are slightly warming and dry in nature. So it is beneficial to consume less coriander seeds for vata dominant dosha.

Ayurvedic Uses

• Prevents Indigestion, Flatulence, Gas
• Helps to increase Appetite
• Excellent for Eyes
• Combats Allergies (excellent spice to use for Spring allergies)
• Blood Purifier
• Helps in Menorrhagia
• Relieves Menopause pitta related imbalances
• Regulates normal Menstrual Cycle
• Regulates Thyroid Gland
• Supports proper function of Urinary Tract
• Supports healthy Kidney Function

Next time when you look at cilantro, don’t pass it off as a simple garnish on the plate but make sure to include this humble herb abundantly in your diet.