Green Chili is a popular spice in Indian food. Raw, fried, baked in you don’t know or added to curry, this little spice is not only delicious but also rich in many vitamins. It comes with a pack of health benefits. Edible at every stage, from seed to mature chili pepper, this spicy vegetable is easy to grow and abundant around the world.
Containing high amounts of vitamin C and antioxidants, chillies have been found to help prevent lifestyle diseases including some cancers and stomach ulcers. Meanwhile, their ability to create heat in the body has also linked peppers to weight loss as well as reducing the risk of type II diabetes.
The red variety, which is usually high in beta-carotene and pro-vitamin A, is said to boost immunity and promote healthy mucous membranes, which can reduce congestion in the lungs, nasal passages, urinary tract and intestines. Discussed in this article are some of the health benefits of chili.
Chili nutrition facts
The nutrition facts for 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of raw, fresh red chilies are:
- Calories: 6
- Water: 88%
- Protein: 0.3 grams
- Carbohydrates: 1.3 grams
- sugar: 0.8 grams
- Fiber: 0.2 grams
- Fat: 0.1 grams
Vitamins and minerals
Chili peppers are rich in various vitamins and minerals.
However, because they are only consumed in small amounts, their contribution to your daily intake is small. These spicy fruits have:
- Vitamin C. Chili peppers are very high in this powerful antioxidant, which is important for wound healing and immune function.
- Vitamin B6. The B vitamin family, B6 plays a role in energy metabolism.
- Vitamin K1. Also known as phylloquinone, vitamin K1 is essential for blood clotting and healthy bones and kidneys.
- Potassium. An important dietary mineral that serves many functions, potassium can reduce your risk of heart disease when taken in sufficient amounts.
- Copper. Often lacking in the Western diet, copper is an essential trace element, essential for strong bones and healthy neurons.
- Vitamin A. Red chili peppers are high in beta carotene, which your body converts to vitamin A.
Benefits of chili for health
Chili comes with a minimal amount of calories. In fact, they speed up a person’s metabolism by 50% for up to three hours after eating. In addition, they have many other beneficial effects on humans. Some of them are mentioned below:
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- Helps Treat Skin Infections: Since green chilies are full of anti-bacterial properties, they help cure skin infections and acne. In addition, it contains Vitamin c that gives healthy and radiant skin. Therefore, remember to store chilies in a dark and cool place because chilies may lose Vitamin C if stored in hot and light conditions.
- Good For Digestive Health: Green chilies are rich in dietary fiber, which helps smooth bowel movements and improves digestive health. However, eating green chilies can also prevent ulcers. People suffering from peptic ulcers are advised to avoid consuming green chillies.
- Benefits in weight loss: Adding green chillies to your diet helps burn excess fat in your body due to its thermogenic properties. Also, it helps increase the metabolic rate. Therefore, this is one of the important benefits of eating green chilies.
- Good for the heart: Consuming green chillies lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels and prevents atherosclerosis. It further reduces the possibility of platelet aggregation. Green chilies also help increase fibrinolytic activity that can prevent the formation of blood clots, a common cause of heart attacks.
- A good cure for colds: Green chillies contain capsaicin which has a stimulating effect on the mucous membrane of the nose. So, it helps to make it thinner and thus the mucus flows from the nose quickly and cures the common cold.
- Relieves pain: Capsaicin, the main bioactive plant compound in chili peppers, has several unique properties. It binds to pain receptors, which are nerve endings that feel pain. This causes a burning sensation but does not cause any actual burn injury. However, high consumption of chili peppers (or capsaicin) can desensitize your pain receptors over time, reducing your ability to feel the burning flavor of chili peppers. It also desensitizes these pain receptors to other forms of pain, such as heartburn caused by acid reflux.
- Can reduce the risk of cancer: Chili peppers also provide natural medicine that has the potential to fight cancer. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, capsaicin and antioxidants in chili peppers can kill cancer cells in leukemia and prostate cancer. This is largely due to the high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of chili peppers.
Possible disadvantages of chili
“Too much of a thing is bad” is always a good rule to remember, especially when it comes to foods that may benefit us in some way. This is also the case with chili. Although there are many health benefits of chili, too much can be bad. Here are some side effects of green chilies that you should know:
- Eating too many green chilies can result in loose motion or diarrhea because they have a good amount of dietary fiber.
- Eating too much green chilies can cause rectal inflammation. Therefore, this can be very painful if you have hemorrhoids.
- Green chillies can increase the heat in your stomach which makes it dangerous for pregnant women. Consuming too much chili in your diet can irritate the lining of the stomach, which can cause a burning sensation in your stomach.
- Since chili contains high amount of capsaicin, therefore, eating too much of it can be toxic for your body.
- Consuming too much chili can cause your body temperature to rise. In addition, body heat can cause mouth ulcers.
