Some Like It HOT! About Peppers and Their Health Benefits

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
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USA
Peppers, their description and also benefits for health. I like some spicy foods, but not super hot. Jalapenos are the hottest pepper I'll eat in dishes. Full story here.


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Fiery. Spicy. Hot. Pungent. Mild. There are countless ways to describe the flavors of hot peppers and countless ways to incorporate them into your diet. Whether you chop them for salsa, stuff them with quinoa and cheese or pickle them, there are significant health benefits to eating hot peppers.


In addition to being chock-full of vitamin D, vitamin C, potassium, fiber and beta-carotene, research has linked eating hot peppers with reduced blood pressure and cholesterol. Chiles contain red and orange pigments called carotenoids that are believed to protect against cancer.


Eating hot peppers might also help to reduce pain, according to Beth Warren, MS, RDN, CDN, founder and CEO of Beth Warren Nutrition and author of Living Real Life with Real Food (Skyhorse).


“You release endorphins [when you eat hot peppers] to block the pain from the heat, which is why they are used to help treat all kinds of arthritis pain, as well as for neuropathic pain and dermatologic conditions that have a painful itch,” Warren explains.


What’s more, hot pepper consumption has been found to decrease appetite and increase metabolism. This has led to interest in employing these taste bud sizzlers as a possible path to weight loss.
 

I love chilis and peppers. It's not the fire that is appealing, it's the usually subtle flavor that is the attraction.
 

I agree Falcon, I can't see eating something so hot that your eyes water and you have to drink milk to stop the heat. Years back some coworkers were passing around some Ghost Peppers to bite raw, I passed. :p

Pepper heat has its own index. Called Scoville units after American chemist William Scoville, who devised the system in 1912, this measurement provides a way of judging how hot a pepper is based on its capsaicin content.

Sweet bell peppers, which have no capsaicin, rate a 0.

Jalapeños come in at 3,500 to 8,000 Scovilles, which sounds hot enough until one learns that ghost peppers rate a tongue-incinerating 1 million Scoville units.
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I can't deal with hot peppers but a funny story...When we lived in Florida we had a favorite sushi spot. One night hubby's best friend came with us. They both ordered the most blistering things on the menu. I still remember the two of them pounding the table with tears flying...but you know they ate every bite.
 
I never have been accused of being the sharpest knife in the drawer but when I eat Mexican food I want it hot enough to feel my head sweat and eyes water......I will admit that the trip to the loo the following morning isn't very pleasurable.
 
I remember making a pork green chili many years ago for my husband in the crock pot. I knew he liked it hotter than I did, so I added extra jalapeno peppers for him. Well it tasted awesome and the pork was super tender. Only problem was it was hot, hot, hot (even for him)!! :pepper::pepper::pepper:
 
Living in the southwest, hot food is everywhere. I like it fairly hot, but there is some food here that it so hot it hurts, and the heat overtakes any flavor the food might have. I avoid the super, super hot foods. In general, I LOVE Mexican food.
 
I love hot spicy dishes. Hot peppers and/or hot sauce. I am a big Guinness drinker, but the best beer for consumption with spicy foods is an American Lager, Taj Mahal , brewed in India. I do not usually consume American Beers, but this beer is especially good with spices.
 
Love the hot peppers but just enough for the taste. A jalapeno in a large pot of homemade veggie soup gives just a hint of hotness. Take it out before serving. I like to make a large pot full of beef stew meat, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots etc and freeze in small containers for winter suppers. We haven't had any real winters here in Houston in a while but its a good excuse to make soup. Make a pan of Mexican cornbread to go with that soup and its all I need for a good meal. I also freeze that cornbread in squares so it can be served with the soup several times during the winter.
 
I can't handle hot peppers. I like hot salsa but it's not really hot. I especially like red sweet peppers.:pepper:
 

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