Free Republic

A study revealed a range of health and dietary benefits of consuming cardamom, including increased appetite, fat loss and inflammation reduction, making the spice a "superfood." Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, Ph.D. said the study shows cardamom could be a healthy dietary choice, and that its consumption can help maintain lean body weight and reduce fat. Cardamom is a popular spice in many parts of the world and the study findings should expand its popularity. The spice has a warm herbal flavor and an aroma that blends eucalyptus, mint and pepper. "Cardamom is a spice little known in the U.S. but very common...

PHNOM PEL, Cambodia: Over a hundred 'burial jars' and a dozen coffins arranged on a ledge in remote Cambodian jungle have for centuries held the bones -- and secrets -- of a mysterious people who lived alongside with the Angkor era. Why the bones were placed in jars on a cliff some 100 metres (320 feet) high in the Cardamom Mountains, or indeed whose remains they are, has long puzzled experts. For seven years Nancy Beavan, an archaeologist who specialises in carbon dating, has been looking for an answer, painstakingly piecing together clues left by the enigmatic people at 10...