Using spices as supplements

I can’t stand fried chicken. I never go to KFC, and I’ll avoid fried chicken at potlucks unless there’s nothing else available. Then, I peel off the fried coating until there's just plain chicken on my paper plate.
My grandparents retired and moved from Arizona to Washington State when  I was in primary school. Every few months, we’d visit, driving from Seattle to Ocean City, just north of Ocean Shores on the coast.
I loved staying with my grandparents, but getting there wasn’t fun. We always left right after Mom fed us lunch, usually fried chicken. Halfway there, I’d get queasy sitting in the back seat of our station wagon. One particularly twisty section of the road was excruciating. I'd often lose my lunch by the side of the road or into a trash bag inside the car.
I suffered motion sickness on boats and planes, too. One day, I discovered that ginger root might help. I tracked down candied ginger root in the spice section of my local grocery. After measuring out the suggested dose, I took it about an hour before my next road trip.
What a difference. Without a headache or queasy stomach, I enjoyed riding and reading in the back seat of the car. What a relief to master my motion sickness.
Years later, the airport was crazy busy on the early morning of Christmas Eve, and I almost missed my flight to Dayton, Ohio. In the confusion, I forgot my dose of ginger. Everything went well until we hit turbulence on the final approach. Staggering off the plane and feeling four shades of green, I raced for the nearest restroom. Finally arriving at my in-laws, I spent the rest of the day in bed.
Cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric are spices with additional medicinal properties. Although some people seem to experience benefits from these natural products, many others do not. How can you tell if they are helping you?
When your doctor gives a prescription medicine to try to lower your blood sugar, they will have a way to decide how you respond to it. You may poke your finger to measure your blood sugar. If your blood sugar levels don’t change, then another approach is needed. You may get a higher dose or different medicine.
Not everyone who takes a medicine, food supplement, or herbal product will respond to it. There's no way to predict who will benefit and who won't. Even with dozens of glowing testimonials, taking any supplement or herbal product doesn't guarantee similar results. Each of us responds to medications and supplements in our own way.
The best way to determine if your supplement is helping you is to document your results. Before you start, write down how you feel before taking the first dose of your medication or supplement, then at regular periods afterward. Trying to recall exactly how you felt a week ago is not as nearly as accurate as documenting it in writing.
In the words of a Chinese proverb, "The palest ink is better than the best memory."
Despite recent studies showing that ginger is ineffective at relieving nausea from motion sickness, I have confirmed that it works for me. And that's what counts.
Other medicinal spices include clove oil and cinnamon. Clove has been used as a dental analgesic and antiseptic for decades. I think the hint of clove is part of what gives dental offices their distinctive smell. Pure Cassia cinnamon has been shown to lower blood sugar by up to 25 points, and turmeric may help your knee pain.
Here are 5 steps to help determine if a supplement works for you:
1. Decide which symptoms you hope will improve.
Answer the question, "If this really helped you, how would you know?" What exactly do you expect it to do? Relieve your pain? Increase your energy? Help you lose weight?
2. Create a before and after scoring system.
Before taking the first dose of your supplement, score yourself on how you are doing on each symptom. If you want increased energy, score your current energy level on a scale of 1 to 5 or 1 to 10.
3. Start your new supplement.
4. Score yourself on each symptom.
Every week, notice how you are doing on each symptom and record it in your symptom diary.
5. Evaluate your progress.
Check your before and after scores to determine any changes to your symptoms. If you don't see any measurable difference after four to six weeks, it's not helping you. Try something else, instead.  

Dr. Louise Achey, Doctor of Pharmacy, is a 43-year veteran of pharmacology and author of Why Dogs Can’t Eat Chocolate: How Medicines Work and How YOU Can Take Them Safely. Get clear answers to your medication questions at her website and blog TheMedicationInsider.com. 2022 Louise Achey