Bringing You the Best Hot Sauces & Peppers

Both hot and sweet peppers May Enhance Weight-loss 

Research has shown that capsaicin—the substance that gives hot red peppers (or chilies) their kick, and boosts our metabolism—keeps immature fat cells from developing into full-fledged ones. And a study presented in April 28th 2010  found that a compound in some sweet peppers (called CH-19 Sweet), which resembles capsaicin, provides similar positive metabolic effects—minus the burning mouth and lips.

Whether you like them hot or sweet, peppers contain lots of B vitamins. One cup (250 mL) of chopped banana pepper has 36 percent of your daily vitamin B6 and 10 percent of folate (also a B vitamin); red peppers contain 35 and seven percent, respectively; and yellow peppers, 20 and 10 percent. A Japanese study published this year looked at more than 35,000 women, age 40 to 79 years, who had completed a food-frequency questionnaire. Researchers found that the higher the dietary intakes of both folate and B6, the lower the risk of death from stroke, coronary heart disease and total cardiovascular disease for women.

Another benefit of capsaicin: A study in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that adding hot chilis to daily meals May protect against the buildup of cholesterol in the blood compared with eating a bland diet. (The hotter the chili, the more capsaicin)

 Pepper is a natural decongestant—it contains chemicals that irritate your mucus membranes, making them produce a thinner, more watery mucus (translation: giving you a runny nose) to help clear out your nasal passages, explains Neil Schachter, MD, a professor at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and author of The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu. Just add a few pinches of pepper to a bowl of chicken soup—the perfect comfort food when you’re sick—and you’ll soon be breathing easier.

Toss a sliced red pepper into a salad for about a third of your daily carotenoid needs. Research reported in the International Journal of Cancer in 2009 found that premenopausal women who ate two or more servings of foods rich in carotenoids each day reduced their risk of breast cancer by 17 percent. Why? Carotenoids can interfere with estrogen’s signaling ability.

 When trying to get a reluctant eater to try something spicy, people often say, "Aww, try it. You'll get used to it." A four-alarm chilli may downgrade to two-alarm after a few bites. In the same way that your mouth's pain receptors can get desensitized, nerve receptors in the body can also be desensitized. This is the theory behind using capsaicin and pepper extracts as pain relievers. When applied to the skin, topical capsaicin has been shown to effectively ease symptoms of cluster headaches, shingles, and osteoarthritis.