Unlike other known herbs, cilantro has a rather pleasant citrus flavor, and its essential oil was actually used in ancient Greece as a main component of perfumes. Even the Romans would use cilantro to limit the odors coming from rotten meat. There is obviously a lot more to cilantro than simply its taste or scent. It would definitely be wise from now on to eat these green leaves when they are added to your meals instead of simply tossing them to the side of your plate.

Cilantro, better known as coriander in the Mediterranean region, may be an excellent source of minerals, such as potassium, calcium, manganese, iron and magnesium, but it's an even more incredible source of vitamins A and K, as a simple 100g daily intake will strongly exceed the body's required need for such vitamins. Cilantro is also filled with important volatile oils and numerous antioxidant flavonoids that can help reduce LDL (bad cholesterol) while increasing HDL (good cholesterol) levels.

Professional herbalists have long ago recognized cilantro's ability to detoxify the body from heavy metals such as mercury. It basically acts as a powerful cleansing agent, as some of its compounds enable the cells and tissues to slowly remove these heavy metal toxins and then purge them from the body as simple waste materials. It is a known fact that people suffering from past mercury exposure will very often feel much less disoriented after taking adequate quantities of cilantro over a reasonable amount of time.

Cilantro can neutralize salmonella

A study published in the June 2004 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, demonstrated that cilantro was capable of preventing salmonella from causing ill effects. The researchers isolated a compound named dodecenal in order to examine its antibacterial properties. The entire team was surprised to note that dodecenal displayed signs of being much stronger than gentamicin, which is a common drug used to combat salmonella. Following the research, scientists have discussed the possibility of developing a cilantro based additive in order to prevent foodborne illnesses.

The Ayurveda system of medicine has always claimed that cilantro leaves can drastically improve digestion and most likely help overcome conditions such as Crohn's disease. These leaves also have cooling properties for those addicted to eating very spicy foods or salsa.

It seems that chronic inflammation plays an important role in neurodegenerative diseases. Throughout the years, researchers have noticed that people from the Indian subcontinent seemed less likely to develop such disease, because they consumed large amounts of spices such as cilantro.

Last but not least, cilantro's cooling properties can help relieve your eyes from burning sensations or irritations, which, for instance, can often be the result of excessive exposure to computer screens.

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