7 Things You Never Knew About Chili Pepper.

Chili peppers (Capsicum annuum) are the fruits of Capsicum pepper plants, notable for their hot flavor. Capsaicin is the main bioactive plant compound in chili peppers, responsible for their unique, pungent taste and many of their health benefits.

FIGHT INFLAMMATION

Chili peppers contain a substance called capsaicin.  Capsaicin is a potent inhibitor of substance P, a neuropeptide associated with inflammatory processes.
Capsaicin is being studied as an effective treatment for sensory nerve fiber disorders, including pain associated with arthritis, psoriasis, and diabetic neuropathy.

NATURAL PAIN RELIEF

Topical capsaicin is now a recognized treatment option for osteoarthritis pain. The side effect reported with topical capsaicin cream is a burning sensation at the area of application.

CARDIOVASCULAR BENEFITS

Red chili peppers, such as cayenne, have been shown to reduce blood cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and platelet aggregation, while increasing the body’s ability to dissolve fibrin, a substance integral to the formation of blood clots.

Spicing your meals with chili peppers may also protect the fats in your blood from damage by free radicals.

CLEAR CONGESTION

Capsaicin not only reduces pain, but its peppery heat also stimulates secretions that help clear mucus from your stuffed up nose or congested lungs.

BOOST IMMUNITY

The bright color of red chili peppers signals its high content of beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A. Just two teaspoons of red chili peppers provide about 6% of the daily value for vitamin C coupled with more than 10% of the daily value for vitamin A. Often called the anti-infection vitamin, vitamin A is essential for healthy mucous membranes, which line the nasal passages, lungs, intestinal tract and urinary tract and serve as the body’s first line of defense against invading pathogens.

HELP STOP THE SPREAD OF PROSTATE CANCER

 Capsaicin triggers suicide in both primary types of prostate cancer cell lines, those whose growth is stimulated by male hormones and those not affected by them. In addition, capsaicin lessens the expression of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), inhibits the ability of the most potent form of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, to activate PSA, and directly inhibits PSA transcription, causing PSA levels to plummet.

PREVENT STOMACH ULCERS

Chili peppers have a bad—and mistaken—reputation for contributing to stomach ulcers. Not only do they not cause ulcers, they can help prevent them by killing bacteria you may have ingested, while stimulating the cells lining the stomach to secrete protective buffering juices.

LOSE WEIGHT

All that heat you feel after eating hot chili peppers takes energy—and calories to produce. Even sweet red peppers have been found to contain substances that significantly increase thermogenesis (heat production) and oxygen consumption for more than 20 minutes after they are eaten.

LOWER RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES

Making chili pepper a frequently enjoyed spice in your Healthiest Way of Eating could help reduce your risk of hyperinsulinemia (high blood levels of insulin)—a disorder associated with type 2 diabetes.