How to Eat Chili Peppers in a Healthy Way

How to eat peppers more healthily? Let me tell you today:

Eating chili peppers can stimulate appetite and help digestion

Spicy food not only makes people feel delicious, but in fact, peppers are rich in nutrients and have many health benefits. Professor Shen Yanying, deputy director of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, pointed out that first of all, peppers are extremely rich in vitamins and their content. In a small pepper, vitamins A, B, C, E, K, carotene, folic acid, etc. are all included. Secondly, peppers also contain minerals such as calcium and iron, as well as dietary fiber.

Eating chili peppers can stimulate appetite, warm the stomach and drive away the cold, while also promoting blood circulation and improving fear of cold and frostbite. In addition, eating chili peppers can also beautify the skin and reduce fat and weight.

Peppers are best eaten cooked

Chili peppers come in dried, fresh, and pickled varieties. Shen Yanying suggests that fresh peppers are better because they are richer in nutrients. In addition, it is best to cook peppers. Raw peppers contain a lot of capsaicin, which may irritate the oral and gastrointestinal mucosa. After heating, the irritation to the gastrointestinal tract will be reduced.

In terms of taste, peppers can be divided into spicy, sour and hot, and mustard. Spicy peppers contain the heat of Sichuan peppercorns, which is more likely to cause internal heat, so you should eat less. Pickled peppers contain less capsaicin; the vinegar in sour and hot peppers has a detoxifying effect, reducing the chance of internal heat, so you can eat more appropriately.

Paired with spicy and heat-reducing foods

Although spicy food is very addictive, eating too much of it can be a bit unbearable. Experts say that eating more sweet and sour foods can help relieve the spiciness. Sweetness can cover up and interfere with the spiciness, and sourness can neutralize the alkaline capsaicin. If you feel it is too spicy, it is helpful to dip it in vinegar, drink a bowl of cold sweet drink, or eat a piece of cool fruit. If you are making spicy dishes at home, try to choose foods that nourish yin, reduce dryness, and relieve heat, such as duck meat, shrimp, crucian carp, bitter melon, loofah, cucumber, etc. You can also cook some cool mung bean porridge or lotus leaf porridge to reduce internal heat.

Eat less spicy food during dry seasons

When it comes to chili peppers, everyone has different physical conditions and can tolerate different amounts.

People with cold hands and feet and those who are prone to anemia can eat more peppers. People with gastric ulcers, esophagitis, hemorrhoids, as well as those with yin deficiency and excessive fire, frequent constipation, and acne should eat peppers with caution. In addition, peppers have the effect of removing dampness, so people in the north should eat less peppers during the dry seasons of spring and autumn.