I'm currently reading Out of the East by Paul Freedman (a very interesting book) and I'm struck by how much emphasis the medical opinion of the time placed on the health effects of spices. I was pondering, was this a professionally accepted and wide-held belief?

I imagine if one consulted the popular literature of today, future historians may be inclined to the same conclusion of us: that we have very strong beliefs in fairly outlandish health benefits offered by certain foods.

My question is: Did medical Europe hold a near-universal and professional belief of the health benefits of spices? Or was there an element of "pop-health" at play just as we have today.

I hope that question is clear, and I appreciate that any medical science that was held before the scientific method will be hard to untangle from pop-medicine at the best of times. Would love to hear from anyone well versed in this field.