4. Black pepper
Pepper comes in more forms than just the red and black pepper that most people are familiar with – first off, we’ll remind you that there are other forms of pepper too, including red.
(You can usually find lots of these in your spice or health food aisle, and sometimes you can even mix them together for an interesting new flavor to your food; every pepper tastes differently.) Black pepper is well-known for improving heart health and metabolism and consumed liberally it can have a positive impact on your immune system and dental health, too.
Pepper is a very powerful disinfectant. Ideally, you want to buy it in peppercorn form and ground it for use – that way, the oils are released into the food for the best, richest flavor. In powdered form, this spice can dry out and give you some of the flavors but none of the really good stuff.