Health benefits of vanilla

  • Vanilla beans are one of the expensive non-pungent spices especially used as flavoring agent in a wide array of sweet-drinks and confectionaries.

  • Vanilla extract composed of simple and complex sugars, essential oils, vitamins and minerals.

  • The chief chemical component in the beans is vanillin. They also include numerous traces of other constituents such as eugenol, caproic acid, phenoles, phenol ether, alcohols, carbonyl compounds, acids, ester, lactones, aliphatic and aromatic carbohydrates and vitispiranes.

  • Ancient Mayans believed that vanilla drink was supposed to have aphrodisiac qualities. No modern research study, however, establishes its role in the treatment of sexual dysfunctions.

  • Its extract contains small amounts of B-complex groups of vitamins such as niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamin, riboflavin and vitamin B-6. These vitamins help in enzyme synthesis, nervous system function and regulating body metabolism.

  • This spice also contains small traces of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, iron and zinc. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese and copper are used by the body as co-factors for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is essential for red blood cell production and as a co-factor for cytochrome-oxidases enzymes.