CrowdScience listener Kristine from Wisconsin in the USA wants to know why herbs and spices taste so good to so many of us. She’s intrigued to know if there's evidence that herbs and spices can keep us healthy.

Anand Jagatia visits the historic naval city of Portsmouth in the UK, where exotic spices from around the world were first brought in from the East Asia more than 600 years ago.

He’s on a journey to find out why many of us think spices are delicious. But are there also nutritional benefits to seasoning our food with them? Anand asks what science or studies are there to show that eating herbs and spices can be beneficial for our health?

Presenter: Anand Jagatia
Producer: Joanna Hall
Assistant Producer: Jonathan Harris
Editor: Richard Collings
Studio Technicians: Bob Nettles & Steve Greenwood

Contributors:

Prof. Lindell Bromham, evolutionary biologist, Australian National University
Dr. Kanchan Koya, Molecular Biologist and founder of the Spice Spice Baby website
Dr. Beronda L. Montgomery, plant biologist and Dean at Grinnell College, Iowa, USA
Dr. Lorenzo Stafford an olfactory researcher, Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, UK

(Photo: A couple stand at a spice shop. Credit: Thomas Barwick / Getty Images) Show less