Hot Stuff Has the Right Stuff

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According to the Department of Agriculture, Americans are eating 38% more chili peppers than they were in 1996. Per capita, Americans eat more chili peppers (5.9 pounds) than asparagus (1.3 pounds), cauliflower (2.2 pounds), or green peas (3.3 pounds). Even without these statistics, it’s been obvious that chili peppers have caught on. Every day seems to bring a new variety of salsa to the supermarket shelf. Chips and salsa, which most Americans used to eat only in Mexican restaurants, are a mainstream snack, as unremarkable as potato chips or crackers. Trends in American eating habits are usually nothing to celebrate, but the popularity of the chili pepper may be a happy exception. For one thing, it shows that Americans are rejecting blandness for more exciting flavors. In a small way, it’s evidence of the manifold influence of the country’s immigrant population. And nutritionally, chili peppers tot up on the asset side of the ledger. Gram for gram, they contain more calcium and vitamin A and C than asparagus, celery, and green peas (cauliflower, alas, has a slight vitamin C edge but trails in calcium and vitamin A). Of course, people don’t eat chili peppers in the amounts like those other foods. But even salsa is a positive, if small, contributor. According to the nutrient database maintained by the agriculture department, two tablespoons of mild La Victoria salsa contains calcium (4 mg), vitamin A (124 IU), and vitamin C (1.8 mg). Naturally, the tomato part of the mixture deserves some of the credit. But vitamin and mineral content isn’t the only way to size up a food’s health credentials. The main benefit from chili peppers may come from the positive effects they have on our metabolism and the way we respond to other foods. Researchers have reported that chili pepper consumption seems to rev up metabolism and increase oxidation of fat. A number of experiments have shown that there’s an uptick in epinephrine and norepinephrine hormone levels after a chili-laden meal, suggesting perhaps that they stimulate a minor fight-or-flight response. (Web sites devoted to chili peppers wax enthusiastic about the release of endorphins and the chili “high.”) Other research suggests a mitigating effect on appetite. Livening up our food with spices derived from chili peppers might also help lower post-meal spikes in insulin levels, which could have implications for diabetes prevention and management. The most recent evidence comes from a complicated Australian study published in the July 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The researchers enrolled 36 healthy adults who weren’t big chili-pepper eaters. For a month, they ate a bland diet, and then they switched over to one with chili peppers (30 grams of a condiment that was 55% cayenne pepper per day). Blood tests showed that their post-meal insulin levels were lower after a chili-laden meal than after a bland one, and that the effect was even larger after they were on the chili diet for a month. What is a chili pepper? The terminology is confusing, and by some accounts we have Christopher Columbus to blame for that. When the explorer stumbled on a new hot food, he thought it was related to the black pepper. But chili peppers come from a different genus, Capsicum, and the compounds that make them spicy, principally capsaicin, aren’t the same as the one that gives black pepper its kick, piperine. To further confuse matters, the Capsicum genus includes sweet varieties we know as bell peppers, as well as hot, capsaicin-containing chili peppers. Spices made from chili peppers include red pepper (made from the cayenne peppers), paprika (which means pepper in Hungarian), and chili powder (which is usually made from a variety of species). Capsaicin doesn’t dissolve in water, so if you overdo the hot stuff, drinking milk or eating yogurt is the recommended antidote. Some also suggest alcohol will quench the fire.