What Are Capsicums Good For?

A capsicum is a pepper. Among these are chile peppers, cayenne pepper, green peppers and red peppers. Not all capsicums are particularly spicy in flavor. The hot taste of chile peppers comes from a substance called capsaicin. Capsaicin can relieve pain, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). Capsicums are native to the Americas, where they have been used in food and medicine for centuries. Capsicums now grow all over the world.

Culinary Use

• Peppers, hot and mild, are a part of many traditional food cultures. Hot peppers are used extensively in Mexican, Cajun and Creole cooking in the Americas. In Asia, hot peppers are an ingredient in Chinese and Southeast Asian cooking. Mild peppers have their place in the culinary world too. Sweet peppers, green, yellow and red are capsicums. These mild peppers are used throughout the world in salads and stir-fries, are baked and stuffed and eaten raw from the garden.

Traditional Medicinal Use

• The natives of the Americas have been using the hot peppers of their homeland for 9,000 years. After the pepper was introduced to the rest of the world, it gained popularity in traditional medical practices. Chinese, Korean and Ayurvedic medicines use hot peppers. In traditional medicine, capsicums are recognized for their ability to improve circulation, relieve indigestion and ease arthritic pain. Hot capsicums are used both internally and externally. Internally the hot pepper improves circulation and blood flow and externally it helps to relieve nerve pain.

Pain Relief

• Capsaicin provides pain relief when applied to the skin. Arthritis and shingles both often respond well to capsaicin cream treatment. The capsaicin relieves pain by hindering the chemical that transmits the message of pain to the brain, according to the UMMC. This reaction provides temporary pain relief but does not stimulate a long-term cure, according to the Mayo Clinic. Capsaicin cream can also help to relieve pain associated with fibromyalgia in the joints and muscles and postsurgical pain after the wounds have healed.

Weight Loss

• According to the UMMC, capsaicin may help to regulate blood sugar and carbohydrate processing in the body. It is also able to raise body heat for a short time. The stimulating effects of capsaicin are being studied for their possible benefit for weight loss and in treating obesity. According to a study conducted by the Department of Human Biology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, capsaicin was able to improve weight loss results when compared to a placebo.

Antioxidants

• Capsicums, both hot and mild, are high in antioxidants. Antioxidants help to combat free radicals in the body. Free radicals are unstable molecules that cause cell damage. Antioxidants protect the cells by stabilizing free radicals. If free radicals go unchecked, diseases such as cancer and heart disease may result. Other effects of free radicals in the body include premature aging and skin damage. Eating plenty of peppers can help to supply your body with important antioxidants.