In a recent review published in Nutrients, researchers explore the role of herbs and spices as adjuvant methods to treat rheumatic disease (RD) and improve patients’ disease status.

Study: Beyond Seasoning—The Role of Herbs and Spices in Rheumatic Diseases. Image Credit: Dragana Gordic / Shutterstock.com

Background

Despite advancements within the pharmacological treatment of RD in recent times, most patients don’t achieve complete remission with currently available treatments. Consequently, patients often seek adjuvant therapy, including dietary interventions, to enhance their quality of life.

Herbs and spices serve a distinguished role in dietary habits and medicinal purposes. Thus there may be growing interest in dietary intervention with herbs and spices within the management of immune-mediated diseases, including RDs.

Most herbs and spices are abundant sources of vitamins, alkaloids, antioxidants, and their remarkable anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties. The present study discusses widely used spices/herbs in RDs, including cinnamon, garlic, saffron, ginger, and turmeric. As well as, the study findings provide vital insights into gut microbiota and the effect of herbs and spices on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), fibromyalgia (FM), and osteoarthritis.

Gut microbiota, eating regimen, and RDs

The progression of RDs depends on a mix of genetic, environmental, hormonal, and lifestyle aspects. Inflammation and tissue damage are commonly observed on account of the infiltration of leukocytes and proinflammatory cytokines released in affected organs.

Several studies suggest that the event of RDs like RA is on account of a multifactorial pathophysiological mechanism. RA is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease characterised by autoantibodies, that are collectively described because the rheumatoid factor (RF).

Previous research shows that an imbalance in gut microbiota attributable to chronic inflammation can induce RA disease progression. Quite a few findings advocate that Mediterranean, vegetarian, and vegan diets help reduce pain in RA patients as in comparison with other diets.

In osteoarthritis (OA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin1β (IL-1β) promote erosion of the articular cartilage matrix. The gut microbiota also appears to be involved within the modulation of inflammation-mediated diseases like OA.

FM is a chronic condition related to extensive pain on account of inflammation, which is accompanied by high IL-6 and IL-8 levels and altered gut microbiota. Like RA and OA patients, vegetarian and vegan diets appear to ameliorate the standard of life in FM patients by reducing pain and improving sleep.

Bioactive properties of herbs and spices 

Cinnamon, garlic, curcumin, saffron, and ginger have been extensively studied for his or her potential use to treat inflammation in lots of chronic diseases, including RDs.

Cinnamon accommodates bioactive compounds that induce the inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B-cells (NF-kB), which is a transcription factor for regulating gene expression of proinflammatory genes.

Curcumin, an energetic turmeric compound, affects arachidonic acid metabolism and behaves similarly to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In RA patients, curcumin exhibits significant anti-inflammatory effects and reduces disease activity.

Garlic and its derivatives have been widely studied each in vitro and in vivo to guage its immunomodulatory and anti inflammatory properties. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have also shown that garlic supplementation decreases C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, and TNF-α levels.

Ginger has a posh chemical composition and appears to guard against intestinal inflammation by inhibiting TNF-α-induced barrier disturbance. Ginger extract has also been found to cut back inflammation by decreasing the production of nitric oxide and prostaglandin E2 in a rat arthritis model.

Saffron and its compounds, including safranal, crocetin, and crocin, can improve disease status in RD patients by modifying inflammation, stress, pain, and antioxidant levels. Nonetheless, just like the opposite spices, the motion of saffron was not significant enough for clinical suggestion.

Notably, the bioactive properties of those spices and herbs rely upon their storage and cooking methods.

One study investigated the effect of five-gram capsules containing cinnamon, oregano, ginger, black pepper, and cayenne pepper on the gut microbiota of humans. When consumed as mixed spices, these capsules have a probiotic effect and restore gut microbiota.

In one other study, the authors found that 500 mg of cinnamon significantly reduces disease activity, as demonstrated by reduced serum CRP and TNF-α, thus benefitting RA patients.

Nonetheless, the RCTs conducted up to now have a high risk of bias. Consequently, more data and research are required to determine the health advantages of those herbs and spices.

Conclusions

The present study reviews the possible advantages of using herbs and spices as complementary adjuvant treatment methods for RDs, including RA, OA, and FM. Herein, the researchers highlight the antioxidant, antitumorigenic, anticarcinogenic, and anti inflammatory properties of herbs and spices while also summarizing available studies investigating the results of herbs and spices in humans with these conditions.

Nonetheless, these data are insufficient for therapeutic recommendations for herbs and spices. More studies must be conducted on supplementation and culinary use of bioactive components present in herbs and spices.

Furthermore, a comparative evaluation is required between defined baseline disease activities and available pharmacological treatment with the particular herb/spice getting used. This may ultimately provide insights into methods to use herbs or spices or mix each in RD treatment for higher disease management.