Is this the "King of Vitamin C" among vegetables? Debunking 6 Myths About Eating Spicy Foods

Key Points

★ Peppers are excellent in vitamin C content, especially sweet peppers.

★ Eating spicy food has nothing to do with acne, but people with weak stomachs should eat less.

★ Eating chili peppers is not a good way to lose weight, but it can lower blood pressure.

★ There is no need for pregnant women to give up chili peppers.

Vitamin C is a nutrient that everyone is familiar with. When you mention it, your first reaction is not oranges, lemons, kiwis and other fruits? In fact, there is a vegetable that also has an excellent vitamin C content, and that is pepper.

Chili peppers are a common dish on the table, especially in areas where people like spicy food, such as Chongqing and Sichuan. However, the more popular an ingredient is, the more rumors there are about it, and chili peppers are no exception. This article will talk to you about the rumors and truth about chili peppers.

01

Choose this if you want to supplement Vc

Nice and sweet but not spicy

When it comes to peppers, most people's first reaction is "spicy"! In fact, peppers have more than just this characteristic. They also have many other shining points. One of them is that its vitamin C content ranks among the top in the vegetable family. It is simply the "King of Vitamin C" in the vegetable circle.

How good is the vitamin C content of peppers?

The ranking by type is: sweet pepper > colored pepper > small red pepper > green pepper, and their vitamin C content is: 130mg/100g, 104mg/100g, 86mg/100g, 59mg/100g respectively. [1] The highest content is in sweet pepper, which has a vitamin C content equivalent to 4 times that of oranges and 43 times that of apples. Eating 100g of sweet pepper or colored pepper can meet 130% and 104% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C for adults, respectively. Isn’t it amazing!

However, during the storage, cooking and processing of vegetables, vitamin C is easily destroyed in an alkaline environment. Therefore, sweet peppers such as bell peppers and colored peppers can be washed and eaten raw to avoid nutritional loss during the cooking process. In addition, bell peppers are also very beautiful, agate red and lemon yellow. Cut into bell pepper rings and mix into cold dishes, not only can you taste the original sweet taste of the food, but also retain more vitamin C, which is the best of both worlds.

When buying bell peppers, you need to be careful and try to choose those with plump and shiny skin. Bell peppers that are twitching, soft or wrinkled mean that they have been stored for too long and the nutrients will be lost.

If you don’t like sweet peppers, you can also choose to eat spicy green peppers or small red peppers, which are also good in vitamin C. However, some people may be more worried about the various problems caused by frequent eating of "spicy" food.

02

Avoid peppers to avoid acne?

You wronged it!

Acne on the skin is very annoying. If you don't pick it, it will look annoying. If you pick it, it will easily leave scars, which will greatly damage your appearance. For this reason, many people who love spicy food refuse to eat spicy food in order to avoid acne, believing that spicy food is one of the factors that cause acne.

In fact, there is no clear link between eating spicy food and acne. In fact, there are studies that show that capsaicin can be used to treat acne. [2]

And in the "Guidelines for the Treatment of Acne in China (2019 Revised Edition)", there is no mention of avoiding spicy food to prevent acne. It only says: limit the intake of high-sugar and greasy foods and dairy products, especially skim milk, properly control weight, regular work and rest, avoid staying up late and excessive sun exposure, etc., which can help prevent and improve the occurrence of acne. Some people may say: "Why do pimples pop up on my face every time I eat spicy food?" This is because eating spicy food may cause more obvious facial inflammation, and the pimples that did not seem obvious will become redder and more obvious due to the stimulation of "spicy". In addition, spicy food is often accompanied by high sugar and high fat, such as red oil hot pot, boiled pork slices, spicy chicken, etc. These factors are also the main causes of skin acne.

03

Does eating chili peppers hurt your stomach?

Just get the balance right

Everyone should have had the experience that after eating chili peppers, the stomach will have a hot burning sensation. This is because spiciness is not a taste, but a feeling. Capsaicin can mediate the burning sensation in the human intestine through related enzymes and protein receptors, but eating spicy food in moderation will not harm the stomach and intestines.

In 2019, an article published in the Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine introduced a meta-analysis of the relationship between chili pepper intake and the risk of gastric cancer. A total of 18 studies with a total of 13,142 subjects were included. The results showed that: in Asians, high chili pepper consumption was significantly associated with the occurrence of gastric cancer, but low chili pepper consumption was not associated with the occurrence of gastric cancer. [3] Therefore, for friends who like to eat spicy food, it is okay to eat spicy food, but be careful not to overdo it.

04

Can eating chili peppers help you lose weight?

A drop in the bucket!

If you eat a certain amount of spicy food, you will feel hot all over and sweat. So many people have a feeling that chili can increase the body's metabolic rate and help us lose weight!

Indeed, research results have shown that long-term capsaicin intervention can act on the capsaicin receptors in adipose tissue, inhibiting fat synthesis and preventing obesity. [4] Another study showed that eating chili peppers can help you burn 10kcal more energy per meal; another study showed that eating spicy food can help you burn 50kcal more energy per day. [5, 6]

From the above research, we can know that eating spicy food does help to increase basal metabolism, but the increase is very small and the effect is not significant. This amount can be reduced by using half a spoonful of oil less in daily cooking. In addition, many spicy dishes are greasy and go well with rice, which will stimulate appetite, make you eat more, and increase energy intake.

Therefore, although eating spicy food can increase energy consumption a little bit, relying on spicy food to lose weight may not show any effect and may even make you gain weight.

05

Is it necessary for pregnant mothers to give up chili peppers?

Eat with confidence

For some pregnant mothers who love spicy food, they dare not eat chili peppers for the sake of the baby's health during pregnancy, but without chili peppers, even the rice is not delicious! Here I want to tell all the spicy girls during pregnancy that as long as you don't feel uncomfortable after eating chili peppers, you can eat them in moderation and enjoy them with confidence. Not only will it not have adverse effects on the fetus, but it can also supplement nutrients such as dietary fiber, vitamin C, carotene, and mineral potassium.

At the same time, for pregnant mothers who have a poor appetite, eating spicy food can also enhance their appetite and increase their food intake, thus avoiding insufficient nutrient intake and affecting the growth and development of the fetus.

06

Can eating chili peppers lower blood pressure?

Might be useful

There is a rumor among the people that chili peppers can dilate blood vessels and that eating chili peppers can lower blood pressure in patients with high blood pressure. Is this true or false?

In fact, although there are some studies on the relationship between spicy food and blood pressure, the conclusion is not yet clear. The international authoritative academic journal "Cell Metabolism" published a research result: Long-term dietary capsaicin intervention can significantly promote endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Capsaicin can not only inhibit fat synthesis and prevent obesity, but also improve vascular function and lower blood pressure. However, there is no clear answer to how much chili or capsaicin is needed to lower blood pressure every day, and further research is needed. [4]

In addition, a domestic cohort study also pointed out that chili pepper intake is negatively correlated with the risk of hypertension in Chinese adults, and eating chili peppers appropriately can reduce the risk of hypertension. [7]

Even if we put aside the conclusions of the study, peppers are still recommended for people who need to control their blood pressure, considering their nutritional value. However, we recommend choosing bell peppers and green peppers, which not only provide a rich source of vitamin C, but also have a relatively high potassium content of 278mg/100g and 154mg/100g, respectively.

Therefore, for those who need to control blood pressure, you can eat peppers appropriately. Even if you don’t like spicy food, you can choose sweet colored peppers.

Summarize:

If you want to supplement vitamin C, don't miss out on colored peppers, sweet peppers, and green peppers. As for small red peppers, most people can't eat much because they taste too spicy, so they are more suitable as side dishes.

For those who like spicy food, there is no need to worry about the rumors of acne and stomach damage. Just enjoy it happily as long as you don’t consume a large amount at one time.

References:

[1] Yang Yuexin. Chinese Food Composition Table 6th Edition Volume 1[M]. Peking University Medical Press, 2018

[2]Simon M, L'Heveder G, Genestet S, Misery L. Efficacy of capsaicin in the treatment of acne in one case: new pathophysiological perspectives. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2010 Jul;24(7):857. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2009.03513.x. Epub 2009 Nov 30. PMID: 20002242.

[3] Zhan Rui, Tang Shaohui. Meta-analysis of the relationship between chili pepper intake and the risk of gastric cancer[J]. Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2019(9).

[4] Li Yanyan, Zhu Guangping, Zhang Guosheng. Capsaicin can improve vascular function and lower blood pressure[N]. Guangming Daily, 2015-01-24(010).

[5]Mary-Jon Ludy, et al., The effects of hedonically acceptable red pepper doses on thermogenesis and appetite, Physiol Behav. 2011 Mar 1; 102(3-4): 251–258.

[6]Whiting S et al. Capsaicinoids and capsinoids. A potential role for weight management? A systematic review of the evidence. Appetite. 2012 Oct;59(2):341-8. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2012.05.015. Epub 2012 May 22.

[7]Shi Z, Riley M, Brown A, Page A. Chilli intake is inversely associated with hypertension among adults. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2018 Feb;23:67-72. doi: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2017.12.007. Epub 2017 Dec 26. PMID: 29460816.

Author | Xue Qingxin, member of Chinese Nutrition Society, registered dietitian, registered nutrition technician, health manager, public nutritionist

Review | Zhang Jiguo, Researcher, Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

This article was first published on Science Refutes Rumors