Boost your appetite, warm your body, improve your stomach function
A red pepper, which is an essential ingredient in Korean food, contains plenty of sugar and vitamins. In particular, capsaicin in it has lots of benefits for our health, and helps blood circulation.
One of folk remedies for cold in the past was to drink bean sprout soup with much spicy red powder in it and sweat a lot.
This stems from yin yang philosophy because the remedy is about counterbalancing the coldness in our body. Another remedy is to wrap toes with red peppers to avoid frostbite.
What capsaicin do in red peppers?
What is capsaicin?
Capsaicin is an volatile compound with no color and a type of an alkaloid. It tastes very spicy and is used as a spice or for treatment. red pepper seeds contain the most capsaicin among vegetables.
capsaicin in red peppers - Kimchi
Capsaicin in red peppers keep oil from being acidified and boost the growth of lactic acid bacterium.
Kimchi is one of the most well-known fermented food with lactic acid and the acid makes kimchi to taste better and helps our body to fight off pathogens. This benefit of Kimchi comes from capsaicin.
According to a study by a research team in Korea, capsaicin in red peppers helps to reduce fat and prevent and cure obesity. According to the May 1999 issue of Food Journal in Japan, drinks with capsaicin are getting more popular.
When you consume capsaicin, it does not affect your appetite and energy intake but just invigorates your nerves related to energy metabolism, which prevents fat accumulation.
Capsaicin in red peppers - Kochujang
It is known that red paste can also help prevent obesity. The spicyness of red peppers increase gastric acid, which helps to digest. However, you should eat moderately because eating it too much can damage the lining of the weak stomach.
Other nutrients in red peppers
When a green red pepper turns red, catorin turns into capsanthin by being combined with fatty acid. This capsanthin changes into vitamin A. Vitamin A helps to strengthen the skin and mucous membrane. Recently, it was found that β-carotene, which turns into vitamin A, helps to fight cancer and many researchers showed interest in green and yellow leafy vegetables. Green red peppers are as rich in β-carotene as carrots and tomatoes. β-carotene goes well fat so it is good to cook the vegetable with oil or other ingredients which contains a lot of fat.
A red pepper, regardless of whether it is green or red, is rich in vitamin C. Its amount is twice that of a tangerine and thirty times that of an apple. This is why it invigorates you when you feel exhausted in hot summer.
In Korean medicine, a red pepper is burnt on the skin to relieve the pain in joints. If one likes and eats lots of red peppers, he or she is immune to pain.
Today, red peppers are used in various ways. They are a ingredient in spices, hot sauce, preservatives, painkiller, external medicine, and so on. In organic farming, red peppers are fermented and used as pesticide.
