Bell peppers - Nature Cures®

Also known as Capsicum annuum, nightshade family

Brightly coloured bell peppers, whether green, red, orange or yellow, are rich sources of some of the best nutrients available. To start with, peppers are excellent sources of vitamin C and vitamin A (through its concentration of carotenoids such as beta-carotene), two very powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants work together to effectively neutralise free radicals, which can travel through the body causing huge amounts of damage to cells.

Free radicals are major players in the build-up of cholesterol in the arteries that leads to atherosclerosis and heart disease, the nerve and blood vessel damage seen in diabetes, the cloudy lenses of cataracts, the joint pain and damage seen in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, and the wheezing and airway tightening of asthma. By providing these two potent free radical destroyers, bell peppers may help prevent or reduce some of the symptoms of these conditions by shutting down the source of the problem.

For atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, peppers also contain vitamin B6 and vitamin B9 (folic acid). These two B vitamins are very important for reducing high levels of homocysteine, a substance produced during the methylation cycle (an essential biochemical process in virtually every cell in the body).

High homocysteine levels have been shown to cause damage to blood vessels and are associated with a greatly increased risk of heart attack and stroke. In addition to providing the vitamins that convert homocysteine into other beneficial molecules, bell peppers also provide fibre that can help lower high cholesterol levels, another risk factor for heart attack and stroke.

Red peppers are one of the few foods that contain lycopene, a carotenoid whose consumption has been proven to reduce the risk of bladder, cervix, lung, pancreas and prostate cancers. When tobacco smokers were evaluated, those who were also in the group consuming the most cryptoxanthin rich foods were found to have a 37% lower risk of lung cancer compared to smokers who ate the least of these health-protective foods. A common carcinogen in cigarette smoke, benzo pyrene, induces vitamin A deficiency.

Bell peppers also appear to have a protective effect against cataracts, possibly due to their vitamin C and beta-carotene content. Red peppers especially reduced the cataract operation risk. Sweet red peppers also supply the phytonutrients lutein and zeaxanthin, which have been found to protect against macular degeneration, the main cause of blindness in the elderly.

Vitamin C rich foods, such as bell and chilli peppers, provide humans with protection against inflammatory polyarthritis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis involving two or more joints.

NOTE: Bells peppers should be consumed with a fat rich natural food like olive oil, nuts or avocado so that beta-carotene can be absorbed by the body. Cooking bell peppers destroys 40% of their phytonutrients.

Nutrient’s in bell peppers

NOTE: Red bell peppers are the richest in carotenoids and contain lycopene.

NOTE: Some people are unaware that they are allergic to foods from the nightshade family. See>> Allergies

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