It’s a good day to learn about the health benefits of jalapeño.
With cheese, meat, poultry, or shellfish, jalapeños are served cooked or raw.
It’s also commonly served on top of nachos, either hot or cold.
Here is a list of the health benefits of jalapeños.
1. Jalapeño Is High In Vitamin C
Jalapeños are considered to be rich in vitamin C. 100 grams of raw jalapeños can give you more than enough vitamin C for your daily need.
Other vitamins you can get from this pepper are vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin B9, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K.
You can also find minerals from this herb like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc. Although not as dense as the vitamins, these still add up to your daily minerals needs.
Jalapeños have a low-calorie count and are high in fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin B6.
They also contain capsaicin, which gives them their spicy flavor.
2. Could Protect Your Heart
Capsaicin may help keep your heart healthy by reducing the effects of high blood pressure and cholesterol.
In animals, capsaicin has been found to reduce cholesterol and lipid levels, but no human trials have been undertaken.
Capsaicin has also been shown in animal experiments to help lower blood pressure by relaxing blood vessels, although there is no evidence that this is true in humans.
3. Jalapeño May Improve Your Nervous System
Jalapeños supply essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals to the brain.
Some vitamins, such as folate or folic acid, are important in the control of specific amino acids required by the neurological system.
According to research, a lack of dietary folate can raise homocysteine levels, which can be a harmful precursor to neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
4. May Help Relieve Pain
When used externally, capsaicin is a powerful pain killer (Natural Anti-Inflammatory Agents For Pain Relief).
It relieves pain by blocking pain receptors in the area where it is applied for a short period of time.
A burning feeling may be experienced at first, followed by numbness and the absence of pain.
Chronic muscular pain, diabetic nerve pain, and joint pain are all treated using capsaicin lotions and patches.
An application of capsaicin cream to the joints of older persons with rheumatoid arthritis reduced pain in one research. This cream worked far better than the placebo cream.
Capsaicin can be used as a nasal spray to reduce migraine pain in addition to applying it to the skin.
While capsaicin-containing lotions and sprays may help with pain relief, it’s uncertain whether eating jalapeños or applying them to the skin has the same impact.
5. Jalapeño May Prevent Liver Damage
Capsaicin has been demonstrated to minimize liver damage and hepatic stellate cell activation in mice.
Hepatic fibrosis is caused by HSCs.
Dietary capsaicin, in combination with antibiotics, has a lot of promise for treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Mice given capsaicin plus antibiotics grew the least weight and collected the least fat in the liver, according to a study.
This therapy also increased insulin sensitivity.
6. Helps Heal Wounds
Jalapeños contain vitamin C, which can aid wound healing.
Vitamin C is used by the body to repair tissue damage.
Vitamin C promotes wound healing by increasing skin suppleness and assisting in the formation of scar tissue and ligaments.
Jasmine is another culinary herb that might aid wound healing.
My post on the health advantages of jasmine may be found here.
7. Jalapeño May Promote Gut Health
Spicy chilies like jalapeños have a growing amount of evidence suggesting they can improve gut health.
According to a study, high-capsaicin diets boost the number of particular gut bacteria that help control metabolism.
A diet high in capsaicin, according to the same study, may actually help reduce gastrointestinal pain linked with inflammatory bowel disease.
However, because the study’s data is primarily based on experimental models, more human testing is required to truly demonstrate adequate impacts in this setting.
8. May Help With Weight Loss
Jalapeños may aid weight loss by raising metabolism, increasing fat burn, and decreasing appetite.
Capsaicin and other similar substances known as capsaicinoids have been shown in several studies (Capsaicinoids And Capsinoids. A Potential Role For Weight Management?) to improve metabolism, potentially making weight loss easier.
Capsaicin is found in jalapeños, as previously stated.
These variables may explain why eating chili peppers on a daily basis is linked to a lower risk of becoming overweight or obese over time.
9. Jalapeño Could Improve Your Immune System
The vitamin C content of jalapeños is high.
Vitamin C may boost the immune system’s production of white blood cells, which are the body’s first line of defense against disease.
10. Helps Fight Infections
Spices and herbs have long been used in cooking to avoid food sickness and spoilage.
Chili pepper compounds are particularly effective at slowing the growth of common foodborne bacteria and yeasts.
Chili extracts have been shown to inhibit the production of toxins by cholera bacteria, potentially decreasing the severity of this deadly foodborne disease (Capsaicin, A Potential Inhibitor Of Cholera Toxin Production).
New research reveals that capsaicin can help prevent illnesses other than food poisonings, such as bacterial tooth decay, chlamydia, and strep throat.
All of these trials, however, used chili extracts rather than entire chilis and were conducted in test tubes rather than on humans.
Chili peppers may have high antibacterial qualities, according to these early investigations, and more research is being done to see if they might be employed as natural preservatives or medicines.
11. Jalapeño May Have Anti-inflammatory Properties
Capsaicin has anti-inflammatory properties.
It blocks the action of a chemical linked to inflammatory processes.
Capsaicin may one day be used to treat arthritis, diabetic neuropathy, and psoriasis.
Conclusion
These are just a handful of the many health benefits of jalapeño.
Jalapeño offers anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, which are both beneficial in managing my arthritis.
This is why these jalapeño health benefits are my fave.
Which of the health benefits listed above is most relevant to you?
If you’re considering using jalapeño to treat a health concern, consult your doctor first.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and please take care!