Superfoods part 18
Welcome to our health & self help blog. In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.
Today’s post: Wednesday, 5-10-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 18
Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers
Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers have three key benefits.
1. Even in small doses they add a HUGE kick to the flavor of foods. Many people like them as spices they add themselves to their food or in Chinese or Mexican food.
It’s a lot more fun & easier to continue to eat right if you can enjoy what you eat, so this one qualifies them as superfoods by itself.
(Note: They can be a bit too harsh if you use too much or use them in foods with no added healthful oils or fats to mellow them out a bit.
Guacamole with some hot peppers added to taste or using them with extra virgin olive oil or just using a just a little bit of ground red pepper can all work well.
2nd note: If you overdo, cold water doesn’t help much since it doesn’t dissolve or remove the hot oils in them.
Cold beer or chilled wine do work though -- since the alcohol in them does dissolve the hot oils. Eating something with a health enhancing oil works for the same reason. And, eating dry toast or tortillas works since, as you eat them, they absorb off the hot oils.
3rd note: NEVER eat the bright red peppers in Chinese dishes because the pain will outdo the worst heartburn you can imagine. The food & tiny pieces of the peppers that break off make the food plenty hot enough without doing that to yourself.)
Tobasco sauce is a very convenient way to add hot peppers to food; but use it in moderation & without added salt as it’s a bit high in salt. (I love the stuff.)
Actual peppers, powdered cayenne or red peppers, & chili powder also work but have no added salt.
2. A study of people who regularly ate a lot of such hot peppers in Mexican food had virtually no bronchitis when they got upper respiratory virus or bacterial infections – or far less than people who didn’t eat these foods.
There are two reasons I know that may explain this.
It’s very clear that thick gunk in your lungs is more likely to produce problems than it will if it’s thinned out, mixed with water, & your body begins getting rid of it.
When you eat enough hot peppers, your nose runs & the gunk tends to clear out of your lungs. And eating Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers does this about six times better & far faster than the prescription medicines I’ve tried. That’s 90 to 99 percent of the reason eating hot peppers has this health benefit in my view.
But, I suspect, there my very well be a second reason. When you eat enough hot peppers, you begin to sweat enough you may need a headband or to wipe off your forehead with a napkin or handkerchief.
When you have a fever, that triggers your immune system to go to attack mode. So, I strongly suspect when your body has this heated up reaction to the peppers it boosts your immune system & helps you kill off the bacteria or viruses that are making you sick in the first place & to help you get well faster.
3. And, it was in the news recently that eating hot peppers regularly may also help prevent cancer. As both ginger & Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers are hot spices, they may do this for similar reasons. Or it may be the immune system boost from your body’s heat reaction. Or, substances in the hot peppers my act like chemotherapy agents in some way.
So, between their value as spices in helping you enjoy your food in variety of ways & their health benefits, Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers are definitely superfoods.
Today’s post: Wednesday, 5-10-2006 Superfoods & Honor Roll Foods, part 18
Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers
Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers have three key benefits.
1. Even in small doses they add a HUGE kick to the flavor of foods. Many people like them as spices they add themselves to their food or in Chinese or Mexican food.
It’s a lot more fun & easier to continue to eat right if you can enjoy what you eat, so this one qualifies them as superfoods by itself.
(Note: They can be a bit too harsh if you use too much or use them in foods with no added healthful oils or fats to mellow them out a bit.
Guacamole with some hot peppers added to taste or using them with extra virgin olive oil or just using a just a little bit of ground red pepper can all work well.
2nd note: If you overdo, cold water doesn’t help much since it doesn’t dissolve or remove the hot oils in them.
Cold beer or chilled wine do work though -- since the alcohol in them does dissolve the hot oils. Eating something with a health enhancing oil works for the same reason. And, eating dry toast or tortillas works since, as you eat them, they absorb off the hot oils.
3rd note: NEVER eat the bright red peppers in Chinese dishes because the pain will outdo the worst heartburn you can imagine. The food & tiny pieces of the peppers that break off make the food plenty hot enough without doing that to yourself.)
Tobasco sauce is a very convenient way to add hot peppers to food; but use it in moderation & without added salt as it’s a bit high in salt. (I love the stuff.)
Actual peppers, powdered cayenne or red peppers, & chili powder also work but have no added salt.
2. A study of people who regularly ate a lot of such hot peppers in Mexican food had virtually no bronchitis when they got upper respiratory virus or bacterial infections – or far less than people who didn’t eat these foods.
There are two reasons I know that may explain this.
It’s very clear that thick gunk in your lungs is more likely to produce problems than it will if it’s thinned out, mixed with water, & your body begins getting rid of it.
When you eat enough hot peppers, your nose runs & the gunk tends to clear out of your lungs. And eating Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers does this about six times better & far faster than the prescription medicines I’ve tried. That’s 90 to 99 percent of the reason eating hot peppers has this health benefit in my view.
But, I suspect, there my very well be a second reason. When you eat enough hot peppers, you begin to sweat enough you may need a headband or to wipe off your forehead with a napkin or handkerchief.
When you have a fever, that triggers your immune system to go to attack mode. So, I strongly suspect when your body has this heated up reaction to the peppers it boosts your immune system & helps you kill off the bacteria or viruses that are making you sick in the first place & to help you get well faster.
3. And, it was in the news recently that eating hot peppers regularly may also help prevent cancer. As both ginger & Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers are hot spices, they may do this for similar reasons. Or it may be the immune system boost from your body’s heat reaction. Or, substances in the hot peppers my act like chemotherapy agents in some way.
So, between their value as spices in helping you enjoy your food in variety of ways & their health benefits, Chili, Red Peppers, & Hot Peppers are definitely superfoods.
posted by David at 1:40 PM
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