Health Benefits of Spicy Foods
Would you believe that spicy food, especially chili peppers, have monumental physical and mental health benefits? It’s true. If used regularly as part of your diet you may experience better moods, be more alert, get sick less often and even increase your life expectancy.
Chili Peppers contain significant quantities of vitamin C; 91mg. per ¼ cup of fresh peppers. The red peppers (not the green) also have high concentrations of beta-carotene. The heat from any type of hot pepper triggers the pain receptors in your mouth, which turns on the feel-good endorphins in the brain. This decreases feeling of stress or depression, and is a great way to end or begin a day on the job. Splash some hot pepper sauce on your eggs.
People in countries that regularly eat hot and spicy foods have a much lower incidences of everything from cancer to thrombosis (blood clots).
The chemical in chili peppers that give them their heat is called Capsaicin. It is shown to:
- Lower ‘bad’ cholesterol
- Stop cancer cell growth in the laboratory
- Increase endorphins in the brain (endorphins are mood enhancers)
- Increase metabolic rate – thereby increasing weight loss
- Act as a blood thinner and breaks down clots
- Lower Triglycerides
- Aid in digestion
- Reduce nerve pain (arthritis, psoriasis, shingles)
- Some even saw improvement in their bad acne.
Capsaicin is measured in parts/million. This is translated into Scoville units. For perspective on how this works; A Sweet Green Pepper has 0 Scoville units, the hottest known chili pepper, the habanero, averages 250,000 Scoville units.
The health benefits are can be enjoyed in fresh, dried, ground or pickled chili peppers, as well as in the powdered version or in a hot pepper sauce.
Turmeric, a relative of Capsaicin, is found in Curry Powder. Curry’s name comes from the chemical Curcuma which is found in the Turmeric and gives the bright yellow color. Curcuma has shown importance in several areas:
- Removes plaque deposits in the brain which may help with Alzheimer’s disease
- Reduce inflammation
- Aids in muscle repair
According to the University of South Carolina researchers, athletes should eat foods containing curry for a few days before a game.
Adding spice to food makes whatever dish you are preparing more satisfying for a longer period of time, which makes it a great all natural and healthy diet aid.
As people age they lose some of their ability to taste, just like hearing or eyesight loss. That’s why many times they use more and more salt which, of course, carries its own health risks. Using strong spices and peppers in their food preparation may help increase their enjoyment of food and lead to less salt use.
If you are unfamiliar with the different types of peppers and their heat indexes, try some Anaheim Peppers from California first. These are the most popular pepper sold in the U.S. Their Scoville units range from 100 to 10,000 units. Ones grown in California tend to be milder than the ones found in New Mexico.
There are many ways to eat them and lots of recipes can be found on the internet to give you new ideas for spicing up your healthy meals.
Posted on: January 7th, 2009 by Jeremy Waller
Filed under: Featured • Healthy Eating
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i would like more information on how spicy foods can help in curing diseases such as blood clots and cancer
I’ll put together a new post on it! It’s really interesting stuff. Who knew that Capsaicin could be so useful?
I think spicy foods have got a lot of uses. I am afraid of them, but I think its time to go for them. Thanks for the info.
OMG! I found this site on Bing. this is really great stuff! I have added your site to my faves. I will be back!
For the love of god, if you are going to eat spicy peppers, WEAR RUBBER GLOVES!
DO IT!
So, it’s something you don’t think about if you don’t cook with peppers often. I cook with bell peppers a lot, which have very little of that spicy oil so it does not irritate my skin.
I didn’t think about the fact, that this new red habanero that I baught might. I actually baught, and cut open two of them
Hour one… didn’t notice a thing. Hour two, my hands began burning… and bad. Hour three, other things that I touched were burning (thank god I didn’t get it in my eyes). Also at this point my hands were extremely red, began blistering, were slightly swolen… and while for me the pain was manageable (meaning I could function) it was still very very painful, it felt like my hands were in a fire constantly.
I tried every remedy I could find online, and nothing workes (except milk took a lot of the sting away, but not the swelling, and it didn’t seem to remove the oils).
I’m 48 hours later, and my hands still hurt. They don’t burn, but they feel like a bad sunburn, and the skin is really sensitive.
Point being – wear rubber gloves (the capsacin goes right through latex gloves). By the way, the burning in my mouth from the habanero in my stir fry was the perfect ammount of spice, I could feel the burn, could taste the food, and it didn’t linger in terms of pain for more than a few minutes. On your skin is a completely different issue, so don’t be afraid of spice just because you need to handle with care.
Great article! It is all true. And guys listen up! Hot peppers boost the libido. The chemical Curcuma, abundant in curry, aids in muscle repair and increases blood flow. Do the math. For a great sauce that offers all-natural peppers is bomb on just about everything that needs a kick, check out de Mars’s Don’t Touch Your Cock Sauce. It is delicious and packs heat.
The habanero is not the hottest chili pepper. The Naga Jolokia aka the “Ghost Pepper” is the hottest in the world at 1,001,300 Scoville heat units.