Want a low-calorie, inexpensive and easy way to boost your health? Turn to your spice rack. The spices in your kitchen, say researchers, can dish up some great health benefits. Studies show that many common herbs and spices pack a powerful antioxidant punch that in different studies has been shown to boost memory, decrease blood glucose levels and reduce artery-damaging inflammation.

The website of the U.S. Department of Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, Md., includes a database detailing the properties of many popular herbs and spices.

Take sage, for example. Its mixture includes flavonoids, phenolic acids and enzymes that prevent oxygen damage to cells. It is anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and prevents blood platelets from sticking to arteries. And it contains other substances that inhibit an enzyme that destroys a chemical that carries messages in the brain. Its healthy properties give sage the potential to treat heart disease, cancer and other age-related conditions, including Alzheimer’s.

If you don’t have a chemistry book handy to grasp it all, try a cookbook:

“Measure-for-measure, spices are packed with antioxidants—more than what is in just about any other food,” says James Hargrove, associate professor of Foods and Nutrition at the University of Georgia. “In their natural form, most spices already have high concentrations, but the drying process concentrates these antioxidants even more.”

In one study Hargrove conducted, published last year in the Journal of Medicinal Food, his team analyzed 24 spices “purchased on the shelves of Wal-Mart.” They found that many contain especially high levels of substances called polyphenols, which block the formation of compounds that contribute to the damage caused by diabetes and other conditions associated with aging.

Different spices have varying levels of these disease-fighting compounds and other damage-preventing antioxidants.

“All spices are unique in their own way,” explains Bharat B. Aggarwal, professor of cancer research and medicine at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and a leading researcher on the medicinal properties of spices. Many of his 100-plus studies thus far have explored turmeric, a component of curry, and its promising role against cancer.

“Although the most solid evidence to date is with turmeric because it is the most studied,” notes Aggarwal, “all spices contain nutraceuticals that essentially do the same thing: They have an anti-inflammatory effect that can guard against cancer and other age-related chronic conditions.”

A study published October 6 in the British Journal Cancer found curcumin—an element of turmeric—can kill esophageal cancer cells in the lab. If that isn’t enough to whet your appetite for a low-calorie, inexpensive and easy way to boost your health, there’s more: “You don’t have to go crazy with spices,” Aggarwal adds. “The key is to use them in amounts that most people use to enhance the flavor of food … but to use them regularly.”

The bottom line: Whatever your individual tastes, adding spices to your meals may be a recipe for better health.

“Throughout history, spices have been used as medicine,” says Aggarwal. “Although modern research has specifically linked certain spices to helping prevent or treat some conditions, that doesn’t mean that others don’t. We may not have all the answers because research continues. But what we know so far is that all spices seem to provide some health benefits when consumed regularly.”

Sid Kirchheimer, who writes about consumer and health issues, loves spicy foods and has started adding extra nutmeg and cinnamon to his coffee after researching this article.