Nutritional Heat Of Chili Peppers

Looking to “fire things up” in your food choices?  Chili peppers may be just the item you’re looking for.  A member of the nightshade family related to bell peppers and tomatoes, chili peppers are the fruit of Capsicum pepper plants.  The notoriety they are well-known for is their hot, spicy flavor that you either love or can’t take the heat.  But, don’t let its red hot reputation keep you from experimenting with this fruit even though often used in cooking as a vegetable.

Variety of chili peppers

The unique thing about chili peppers is the many varieties they come in – cayenne, jalapenos, poblano, serrano pepper, habanero, and New Mexico chile, just to name a few. Their names depend on the region they come from and their heat level can range from sweet and mild, medium, medium-hot, hot, and superhots.  The hottest pepper, according to the Guinness Book of World Records is called the Carolina Reaper, grown by Puckerbutt Pepper Company in South Carolina.  This pepper rates an average of 1,569,300 Scoville heat units, the scale that measures a pepper’s spiciness. 

If you don’t like one, there is bound to be another you do.  Each pepper has its own distinct taste with most being used primarily as a spice or as an ingredient in various dishes to blend flavors together.  They can be eaten cooked, dried or in a powdered form which is known as paprika.

Health benefits of chili peppers

Maybe you thought chili peppers were just a spice to add to a dish for a swift red-hot kick for flavor which is partially true, but their nutritional power is also very impressive. Since the variety of chili peppers is enormous, here is an overall compilation of the many nutrients most of them offer:

·         Vitamin C – A powerful antioxidant, chili peppers are a great source of this water-soluble vitamin, important for wound healing and immune function.

·         Vitamin B6 – This vitamin has important functions in energy metabolism while also helping the body to make several neurotransmitters, chemicals that carry signals from one nerve cell to another.

·         Vitamin K1 – Also known as phylloquinone, this nutrient is essential for blood clotting.

·         Potassium – This mineral serves a variety of functions such as helping to reduce blood pressure and has a key role in skeletal and smooth muscle contraction making it important for normal digestive and muscular function.

·         Copper – Another important mineral, copper is an essential trace element important for strong bones and healthy neurons.

·         Vitamin A – Red chili peppers are rich in beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body.  Vitamin A is necessary for healthy skin and immune function.

Capsaicin – chili peppers secret ingredient

The compound that separates chili peppers from all the rest is capsaicin, an active component of this fruit.  Capsaicin is an alkaloid responsible for the spicy flavor in hot peppers but also offers health perks as they may play a role in digestive and cardiovascular health and in long-term cancer prevention.

Here are some possible ways capsaicin found in chili peppers may give you a health edge in addition to their spicy punch:

·         Prostate cancer prevention

Capsaicin may be a helpful component in prostate cancer treatment because of its ability to kill prostate cancer cells, according to the American Association for Cancer Research.  Capsaicin may also reduce the expression of proteins that control growth genes that cause malignant cells to grow.  Studies are limited in humans, but capsaicin has shown promising results in rodent tests.

·         Pain reliever

Either used topically or ingested, capsaicin can be helpful in relieving pain from many different conditions, including arthritis, fibromyalgia, nerve pain, and lower back pain. Capsaicin is not considered a cure for these conditions but it can lower the amount of substance P, a chemical that helps transmit pain signals to the brain. 

·         Aids in weight loss

There have been some studies showing capsaicin may suppress appetite aiding in weight loss.  However, there is no proven link between capsaicin and weight loss but maybe their extreme spiciness prevents a person from eating very much food.

Why do some people sweat after eating chili peppers?

Again, this is due to the component capsaicin which activates certain chemical receptors inside your body causing a reflexive cooling response.  Capsaicin sends signals to your brain of overheating which the brain attempts to cool your body through certain mechanisms.  The thermoregulation center of the body is the hypothalamus found in the brain.  The hypothalamus activates millions of sweat glands in the body to produce sweat following capsaicin ingestion. 

To control the sweat response, many people’s first inclination is to drink something cold like water, a soft drink or tea but this only makes things worse since capsaicin is not soluble in water.  However, capsaicin is soluble in fat.

A better solution for sweat and pain relief is to drink a fatty substance, such as whole milk to provide more long-term relief.  Milk contains the protein casein, which helps break up the capsaicin causing the burning sensation.  Other dairy foods such as sour cream, ice cream, butter, yogurt, and cheese can also help alleviate the pain.

A word of caution

 Hot peppers do live up to their name.  Some people may need to abstain from eating them is they experience heartburn or if they cause stomach irritation.  Even though capsaicin appears to have some health benefits, do consult with your doctor before using it as a supplement. Capsaicin is also used in some topical ointments but it is suggested to test a small area of skin to check for irritation.  It is also recommended not to use topical capsaicin with a heating pad or apply it immediately after a hot shower.