Wellness Wednesday: March 10
CAYENNE PEPPER
Happy Wednesday! Today’s feature ingredient is: cayenne pepper.
Not only does it pack a bit of heat taste-wise, but cayenne pepper brings the heat in terms of nutrition as well. While you may be used to adding a bit of spice to your cooking with cayenne pepper, incorporating it into your diet can provide you with numerous health benefits.
Cayenne pepper has been used in herbal medicine for thousands of years. The powdered form of cayenne comes from a red chili pepper closely related to bell and jalapeño peppers. Although you only use a very small amount at once, cayenne pepper can supply you with a large variety of nutrients, including vitamins A, E, C, B6, K, manganese, potassium, riboflavin, and fiber. The hot taste of cayenne pepper along with its nutritional content comes from the active ingredient capsaicin, and the more capsaicin content, the hotter the cayenne pepper will taste.
With capsaicin, cayenne pepper has been shown to help to increase metabolism by increasing the heat in your body, thus burning a greater amount of calories during the day through a process called thermogenesis. Along with this, cayenne can also help in keeping your appetite under control through the reducing the production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. With this, cayenne pepper can support you in your weight loss goals.
In addition to spicing up your food, incorporating cayenne in your cooking can help you maintain a healthy digestive system. It does this by increasing fluid production in the stomach, protecting the stomach against infections and helping to deliver enzymes to the stomach while protecting against stomach ulcers. Cayenne pepper does this by stimulating nerves in the stomach that are used to protect against injuries.
The capsaicin in cayenne also helps fight against the risk of cancer by fighting against cancer growth pathways in the body. Various studies have displayed promising results, suggesting that consuming cayenne has lowered the risk of multiple types of cancers, including skin, prostate, and pancreatic cancers.
Cayenne pepper is incredibly easy to incorporate into your diet. Simply add it to cooking through adding it to your pasta sauces, seasoning your french fries or roasted vegetables, or even sprinkling it on your morning eggs.
At Juice & Berry, you can reap the benefits of cayenne pepper in our Wellness Shot (pictured below) or simply add it into your juices, smoothies (try it in the Green Goddess!) or ask for a sprinkle on your Refresh or Egg-verything but the Bagel toasts—trust us, it’s delicious!
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