Flavor Improvement

Growing popularity of ethnic foods, especially spicy foods, has had a major impact on chili usage. The trend for reduce-fat food has also contributed to the growth of using hot spices. Since both flavor and textures are affected when fat is removed from foods, spices can help compensate for flavor loss. As people consume more" heat", they need more to get the same sensation. As the population ages, they will be adding more spices to their food. The reason for this is that as aging occurs, physiologically the sense of taste changes and more spices are needed to get the same level of flavor that was tasted when being younger.

The Heat Factor

The hotness of chili peppers is often measured on a scale devised by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. Sweet bell peppers have zero Scoville units, jalapenos measure about 5,000 and fiery Habanero a whopping 250,000 to 300,000. Capsaicin, the pungent principle of chili peppers (Capsicum), has been shown to produce health benefits. The capsaicinoids represent a group of natural products that are vanillylamides of monocarboxylic acids of varying chain lengths from C-8 to C-11 and of varying degrees of unsaturation. Capsaicinoids are found in extracts of the fruit (peppers) of the Capsicum species, with high amounts being found in the well-known chili pepper. Capsaicin is the most widely-studied capsaicinoid.

Reduced Blood Clot Incidence

Long used as a food spice and an aid to digestion, red chilies or cayenne peppers were once thought to aggravate stomach ulcers. This fear has been discounted by researchers who became excited by studies that indicated that capsicum could help prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots. Now new research is focusing on this spices ability to act as an anti-inflammatory agent, and aid in controlling pain.

Researchers in Thailand first noticed that people who consume large amounts of red chili peppers experienced a lower incidence of thrombo-embolism, or potentially dangerous blood clots. Scientists then looked at the medical records of countries where hot spicy foods were regularly consumed, and found that people who eat a diet high in red peppers experience a much lower incidence of blood clotting diseases. Scientists have now concluded that capsicum does indeed possess fibrinolytic activity, meaning that it is able to break down blood clots.

Pain Relief

In addition to preventing the formation of blood clots, researchers have also discovered that a topically applied cream containing capsicum could help control some types of chronic skin pains. Now available in the form of a prescription drug, capsicum ointment is applied to the skin to aid in controlling the pain associated with herpes zoster, also known as shingles, as well as neuralgia and postoperative amputation trauma. The active ingredient in Capsicum is a compound called capsaicin that functions to deplete 'substance P', which is involved in the transmission of pain from the skin to the spinal cord. By blocking substance P, capsaicin acts as a dramatic and long-lasting anesthetic bringing relief to almost 75 percent of patients tested with the cream. It can take as long as three days from first application to begin to deplete substance P from the peripheral nerves. Taken internally to aid digestion, red peppers should be consumed slowly to avoid distress. Be careful to avoid getting Capsicum products in the eyes, as this can be extremely painful.

Reduced Cancer Death Rate

In the countries where diets are traditionally high in capsaicin, the cancer death rates for men and women are significantly lower than they are in countries with less chili pepper consumption (World Health Organization statistics). When capsaicin was administered to rats receiving carcinogenic agents, the incidence of certain tumors was decreased over controls. Capsaicin has been found to preferentially inhibit the growth of cancer cells in laboratory studies.

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