Health Benefits

The calendar says it’s time to peel off the extra layers and head outside, it’s been a long, long year for most of us. If you’re still not feeling it, there’s a pretty easy way to shed a few extra pounds before the summer season kicks off in full swing. We’re not talking about some crazy fad diet where you give up all the good stuff and starve yourself to drop a few pounds, either. In this case, you use a natural compound, in something we all love, to speed up your metabolism, curb your appetite and start burning calories...

It has been found that chile protects against the side effects of aspirin and chile eaters develop fewer peptic ulcers than those who eat plain foods. Also, rates of stomach cancer are unusually low in countries where chile peppers are part of a regular diet, as capsaicin appears to neutralize some carcinogens.

Millions suffer peripheral pain and other troubling sensations from diseases as varied as diabetes, AIDS, shingles, and arthritis. Now a new review suggests that four out of 10 people could experience some pain relief from the cream of topical capsaicin, an active component of chili peppers.

Capsaicin has been used medicinally for centuries. Hot peppers were one of the first plants domesticated in the Americas. Archaeologists believe people in Mexico were eating chiles and peppers as early as 7000 BC. Ancient pain-relievers and other medications used capsaicin as a major ingredient.