10 Hot Reasons to Add Jalapenos and Other Hot Peppers to Your Healthful Lifestyle

By Jo Ann LeQuang

In case you do not live in the Southwest, there are about a million kinds of peppers, many of which pack heat. One of the best known is the jalapeno, originating in Mexico, and widely available in the U.S. today. They are most familiar to us as green in color, about 3 inches long, but if left on the vine, they will turn red. Put a jalapeno into a smoker and you get chipotle. However, there are other types of hot peppers as well: poblanos and Anaheim peppers, on the mild side, and Scotch bonnets or habaneros on the hotter end of the spectrum. The heat in any hot pepper comes from capsaicin, a natural substance which on its own is both odorless and flavorless.

Capsaicin is a super-health-nutrient and medicine is more and more using capsaicin in its products. While adding hot peppers to your diet offers health benefits, you may not be able to eat enough of them to get some of these positive effects. That’s why medical products are adding capsaicin to their ingredients. The heat in hot peppers is rated on the Scoville Scale from 0 to over 1 million, based on their capsaicin content. And just so you don’t think you’ve mastered the hot pepper because you can eat a jalapeno—which ranks at around 2,500 on the Scoville Scale—tabasco peppers are 30,000, Scotch bonnets (habeneros) come in at 150,000, and the aptly named Trinidad scorpion tops the list at 1,000,000. As a frame of reference, the pepper spray that the police use is about 5 million on the Scoville Scale. At the tame end of the spectrum, the bell pepper is zero.

Why People Love Hot Peppers

Not everyone can tolerate hot peppers. Jalapenos are an acquired taste and people with heartburn or other digestive problems may find they aggravate their condition, although there is also some indication that capsaicin may help relieve other types of gastrointestinal problems. The heat in a jalapeno or other pepper is mostly contained in the soft white membrane inside the pepper. If you cook with hot peppers, do not touch this membrane with your bare hands (it’s best to wear disposable gloves when working with hot peppers) because touching the eyes or nose afterward will produce memorably unpleasant effects.

Why do some people seem to love hot peppers? They are known to produce a rush of pleasurable endorphins, so there is a “fun factor” to eating them, at least to those who consume them regularly. Furthermore, you can get used to eating hot peppers to the point that you enjoy their flavor and are not shocked by their heat. In many parts of the world, hot peppers are a normal part of everyday meal time and people like their dishes spicy hot. If you’re a hot pepper beginner, they may be worth a second look. Start small—get some pickled jalapenos from the grocery store and try to munch with other food. Note that if you get that painful burn in your mouth from the hot pepper …

· Water does not help.

· It will go away on its own. It takes minutes.

· You will eventually get used to eating hot peppers if you keep doing it.