Aloha Rum Punch

Many of the spices that drove the historic spice trade contain bioactive compounds with well-documented health effects. Piperine in black pepper significantly enhances the bioavailability of other nutrients including curcumin from turmeric — which is why black pepper and turmeric appear together in traditional Ayurvedic preparations and in contemporary nutritional recommendations. Cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon has demonstrated effects on blood sugar regulation in multiple clinical studies. Eugenol in cloves has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties that partially explain the historical use of cloves as a food preservative. The spices that people fought wars to control were, it turns out, genuinely valuable — in ways that extend beyond flavor.