See more
What are the benefits of eating hot chillies?
Hot peppers have stood the test of time. Researchers have shown that capsaicin can improve heart health, prevent diabetes, and prevent cancer. Hot peppers can even lower blood pressure and make you feel less hungry. There has never been an easier way to make your food more interesting than with hot peppers.
Are hot chillies healthy?
According to a new report, chili pepper in your diet could lower your risk of dying of cancer or cardiovascular disease, and could also promote longevity.
How many chili peppers should I eat a day?
One should not have more than 12 to 15 grams of chilli in a day. Overeating this spicing ingredient can lead to acidity, burning sensation in the gut, cramps and pain diarrhoea.
Is it good to eat chili peppers everyday?
Chili peppers contain a variety of vitamins and minerals which, if eaten every day, can provide a large boost of nutrition to improve your health.
Does chilli burn belly fat?
Several studies have found that spicy chilli peppers and jalapeños can boost metabolism by four to five percent per day, potentially making fat burning and belly fat loss easier.
Which hot pepper is the healthiest?
Compared to other peppers, scotch bonnets are particularly high in vitamins and minerals. “Scotch bonnets are an excellent source of phytochemicals, vitamin A, vitamin C and magnesium,” says Friedman (phytochemicals prevent cancer, vitamin A prevents heart disease and magnesium modulates blood pressure).
What are the disadvantages of eating chillies?
Eating chili can cause intestinal distress in some people. The symptoms may include abdominal pain, a burning sensation in your gut, cramps, and painful diarrhea. This is more common in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Are hot peppers good for your colon?
Capsaicin also has an anticancer effect. Besides, ingestion of chili peppers can promote digestive juice to secrete and accelerate bowel movements [21], which may reduce the risk of CRC.
Can eating too much chilli pepper be harmful?
Although usually enjoyable in our food, too much hot pepper can result in nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and a burning sensation when ingested. During meal preparation, if capsaicin-containing oils get on the skin, it can lead to pain and redness with irritation.
Why do people who eat spicy food live longer?
He suspects the health benefits come from the main compound found in chili peppers, capsaicin. Capsaicin gives chili peppers their distinct taste and smell, It also has an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effect on the body, and helps regulate blood-glucose levels.
What are the pros and cons of eating chillies?
It can cause damage to the lining in the stomach, which in turn can cause gastritis, stomach ulcers and even intestinal disease such as colitis.” Ouch! You may like the burning sensation spicy food has on your tongue, but the flipside to that is “spicy food can also cause heartburn and/or reflux disease.
Are hot peppers good for your liver?
New research shows that the daily consumption of capsaicin, the active compound of chilli peppers, was found to have beneficial effects on liver damage.
Is Hot chilli good for weight loss?
Some of that research has found that capsaicin boosts the body's ability to break down fat and burn more energy. “It seems to rev up the body's fat-burning mechanisms,” says Lane. “That can help with weight loss and weight management.” (Read what an endocrinologist says about metabolism's role in weight loss.)
What happens if you eat chilli every day?
Spicy foods may worsen acid reflux, IBS, peptic ulcers, and gastritis. They may also cause digestive issues, including heartburn, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps, if consumed in large amounts.
Is spicy chili good for weight loss?
Capsaicin, which could be found in peppers, adds heat, which aids in fat burning and weight loss. According to one study, people who ate chilies increased their metabolism after half an hour of eating due to the heat provided by capsaicin.
Humans messed things up
So producing capsaicin turned out to be the ideal way to deter mammals from eating the plant while encouraging birds to do so.
Adrenaline release
Within minutes of eating my first chilli, my eyes began to water and my pulse shot up.
Pain relief
Capsaicin, the main bioactive plant compound in chili peppers, has some unique properties.
Weight loss
Obesity is a serious health condition that increases your risk of many chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and diabetes.
Spice It Up
Chili’s namesake ingredient—chili peppers—is what adds a flavorful kick to the dish. And the evidence suggests they may provide some significant health benefits. Researchers have found that capsaicin—the component that gives chili peppers their heat—has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and blood-glucose regulating effects.
Boost Antioxidants With Tomatoes
Most chili recipes include tomatoes —and there is good reason to add them even if a recipe doesn’t. Cooked tomatoes are among the best sources of the potent antioxidant lycopene (which also gives tomatoes their red color).
Bring On the Beans
Until 2012, you couldn’t enter a bean-containing recipe into the International Chili Society’s World Champion Chili Cook-Off. But for health purposes, you don’t want to skip them—whether you’re using them in place of or in addition to meat.
Add Extra Veggies
No matter what kind of chili you’re making, pack it with plenty of vegetables to up the antioxidant and fiber content of your dish.
Replace (at Least Some of) the Meat
Ground beef is probably the least healthy ingredient in a classic chili recipe. But even if you can’t bear the thought of chili without it, you can still cut some of its saturated fat and calories.
Rethink Your Sides
What you serve with your chili can add to—or detract from—its healthfulness. “Traditionally, people serve chili with or over white rice,” Keating says. “Mix it up and add more nutrition by swapping white rice for brown rice, quinoa, or whole-grain farro.”
CR's Easy Chili
In 1990, Consumer Reports published a recipe for chili that became a classic. (You can still find raves about it online today.) We recently gave it a nutritional upgrade, cutting back on the sodium and using leaner meat.
1. Eating Chili Peppers Is Linked to a Longer Life
A growing body of research shows that eating chili peppers is associated with reduced mortality risk.
2. Hot Peppers May Help Control Blood Sugar
Eating hot peppers or supplementing with capsaicin has shown some promise when it comes to helping maintain blood sugar and insulin levels.
3. Capsaicin Is Associated With Better Heart Health
Capsaicin may also do your ticker some good: In addition to the JACC study finding a link between eating chili peppers more than four times a week and a reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, other research found an association between capsaicin and lower cholesterol levels.
4. Eating Hot Peppers Is Tied to Weight Loss
Adding a little heat to your dinner may help keep your waistline trim. When researchers supplemented a small group of subjects with capsaicin throughout the day, they found that compared to the control, the capsaicin group experienced more satiety and were less likely to overeat at dinner, per a June 2014 study published in Appetite.
5. Capsaicin Is Linked to Maintaining Gut Health
In traditional medicine, hot spices have been used as digestive stimulants as well as for treating gastrointestinal disorders. According to the Molecules review, capsaicin may reduce gastric mucosal damage, which is when the mucous membrane layer of the stomach becomes compromised.
The Bottom Line
Current research supports the health benefits of hot peppers — when included as part of a balanced diet. Just remember that moderation is key: Spicy foods, including hot peppers, may irritate your stomach and produce a burning sensation, especially when eaten in large amounts.
Banish Migraines
Spray hot pepper up your nose? Sure, it may sting. But it also may stop your migraine pain. The spray has a special formula of capsaicin, a chemical in the part of the pepper that holds the seeds. It numbs your brain’s trigeminal nerve, where some migraines and severe headaches start.
Extend Your Life
Pop a pepper, and you might live longer. One large study showed that adults who ate at least one fresh or dried hot red chili pepper a month for almost 20 years lowered their chances of death by 13%. Researchers aren’t sure why, but they think some credit may be due to the peppers’ nutrients and their power to fight inflammation and obesity.
Clear a Runny Nose
Got a sneezy, runny, or stopped-up nose that your doctor calls non-allergic rhinitis? That’s when your nose runs constantly but it’s not from a cold, allergies, or cigarette smoke. If so, then a whiff of capsaicin may help calm your symptoms. It’ll smart at first, and may even seem to worsen your misery. But capsaicin will kick in soon after.
Speed Metabolism
The total-body flush you sense when you eat a hot pepper is more than a feeling. Capsaicin -- the chemical behind the zing -- amps up the rate at which your whole body heats up. It also activates a sensory neuron called TRPV1, which helps keep fat from building up and controls your appetite.
Scramble Pain Signals
Capsaicin triggers a heat sensation to nerve cells that normally yell: “Pain!” The message to your brain reads: “Hot!” This signal-switch trick has been used for centuries to help control pain.
Soothe Arthritis
Capsaicin is the super ingredient in many creams, lotions, and patches that bring on heat to quickly quash pain. In one study, it cut discomfort from arthritis and fibromyalgia by half in just a few weeks. Results from other studies were less convincing, suggesting capsaicin works best when coupled with another pain reliever.
Fight Cancer
In the lab, capsaicin seems to kill cells linked to more than 40 types of cancer, including the colon, liver, lung, and pancreatic cancers and leukemia. The spicy chemical changes how some genes linked with cancer cells act and even stops them from growing. But other research suggests capsaicin itself may be linked to cancer.
What is Capsaicin?
Before we lay out the awesome benefits of peppers, let’s break down what is capsaicin. As we mentioned in our Hot Pepper Heat Scale, capsaicin is the chemical compound found in peppers, and you can find it in the oil residing in the pepper or seed.
Can Improve Heart Health
Eating hot peppers or spicy food can promote a healthy heart and prevent blood clots. The chili peppers can reduce the damaging effects of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) which is your bad cholesterol and fights off inflammation which is known to be a factor for heart issues.
Soothe Annoying Joint Pain and Nerve Pain
If you got a taste for hot stuff, you probably know some level of pain is involved. Yet, you don’t actually have to eat superhot peppers to relieve that joint or nerve pain. As we mentioned earlier, capsaicin cream can be applied to the skin to act as a natural painkiller.
Gets Rid of Migraines
Hot peppers may sting you, but it’ll stop the stinging migraine pain. If you experience a migraine and then consume a hot pepper, your body will focus on the pain that’s burning your mouth or in a different part of the body.
Can Help with Weight Loss
Yep you read right, eating hot peppers can increase your metabolism and decrease your appetite, thus potentially helping you with your weight loss. The capsaicin boosts the thermogenic process, which your body turns calories into heat to use for fuel.
Benefits Your Digestive Tract
While it could be a touchy subject, you should know that the capsaicin in hot peppers act as anti-irritant. Chili peppers are rich in antioxidants and other compounds that can soothe digestive issues such as ulcers, upset stomachs, cramps, intestinal gas, and even curing diarrhea.
May Reduce Risks of Cancer
Those chili peppers you grow in your backyard presents a potential natural remedy for fighting cancer. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, the capsaicin and antioxidants in chili peppers can kill cancer in leukemia and prostate cancer.
1. Benefits the Digestive Tract
This may sound counter-intuitive, but the capsaicin in peppers actually act as an anti-irritant. People with ulcers have been told for years to avoid hot spicy foods, but research has revealed that peppers are beneficial to ulcers.
2. Promotes a Healthy Heart
It also aids the circulatory system and prevents heart disease by lowering blood serum cholesterol and reduces lipid deposits, and therefore, reverses excessive blood clotting. It also dilates the blood vessels to aid in blood flow.
3. Mitigates Migraines
Have you ever had a pain on a body part that was your sole focus until you had another pain that was even worse? The original pain simply disappeared when your brain focused on the new injury.
4. Relieves Joint Pain
Due to the powerful pain-relieving properties of the capsaicin from peppers, it can be applied to the skin to reduce the chemical P, the ingredient that carries pain messages to the brain.
6. Quells Psoriasis
Psoriasis is an itchy skin condition resulting in ugly skin patches. Capsaicin cream will significantly reduce the number of cells to replicating and aids in the reversal of the auto-immune skin lesions.
7. Reduces Cancer Risk
Since tne capsaicin in pepper flesh has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, it is being studied as a cancer-fighter. It reduces the growth of prostate cancer cells, while leaving normal cells unharmed.
8. Fights the Flu, Colds and Fungal Infections
Hot peppers are chalked full of beta carotene and antioxidants that support your immune system and will aid in fighting off colds and the flu.
Health Conditions A-Z
The symptoms of anxiety can be hard to detect. Here are the ones you need to pay attention to, and how to know if you may have an anxiety disorder.
News
"I'm petrified," the actress said when she shared the news that her breast cancer came back. Here's why a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis can be so frightening.
Diet & Nutrition
The U.S. News & World Report expert panel ranked the diets based on seven categories, including effectiveness for short- and long-term weight loss.
Lifestyle
Clean out expired products and clutter to make way for a healthier you.
What makes peppers so hot?
The main compound that gives chilies their signature kick is a phytonutrient called capsaicin. “Capsaicin attaches to the receptors on the taste buds that detect temperature and sends signals of spicy heat to the brain,” explains Bazilian, who’s also the author of Eat Clean, Stay Lean.
Health benefits of hot peppers
To complicate things, eating hot peppers can also deliver health benefits. Research suggests that certain capsaicin-rich ingredients, like cayenne pepper, can help eaters slim down by curbing appetite and revving the body’s calorie-burning abilities.
