Posted 8/4/2023

8 Amazing Benefits of Eating Hot Peppers That You Must Know

• Hot peppers are truly a gift we didn’t know we needed. These chiles that burn your mouth, make you tear up, and get your forehead sweating do have benefits.
• Not only do hot peppers add flavor to your meals, but they can improve your health, increase weight loss, and build a stronger immune system. Really!!
• Pretty crazy how much power one small spicy fruit can hold.
• People were using hot peppers for culinary and medical uses for centuries, and now there are over 50,000 different peppers in the world! 
• If you’re debating on growing hot peppers or eating spicy food, keep reading to find out 8 health benefits of chili peppers and why you should get on board.

What is Capsaicin?

Before we lay out the awesome benefits of peppers, let’s break down what capsaicin is.

Capsaicin is the chemical compound found in peppers, and you can find it in the oil residing in the pepper or seed. This is what makes the peppers hot, and why you’re getting that burning sensation that lingers on your tongue for a while.

Fun Fact: Capsaicin even has a medical purpose where it’s a key ingredient in creams and patches that can give you relief from pain. This can help relieve pain like muscle sprains, strains, migraines, and arthritis.

Now that you know what capsaicin is, here are the 8 benefits of hot peppers:

1) Can Improve Heart Health 

Eating hot peppers or spicy food can promote a healthy heart and prevent blood clots. The chili peppers can reduce the damaging effects of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) which is your bad cholesterol and fights off inflammation which is known to be a factor for heart issues.

The capsaicin can prevent blood clots as it clears away artery-narrowing lipid deposits and increases arteries and blood vessels to clear away those clots. This then will create better blood flow, which your heart will thank you!

2) Soothe Annoying Joint Pain and Nerve Pain

If you have a taste for hot stuff, you probably know some level of pain is involved. Yet, you don’t have to eat superhot peppers to relieve that joint or nerve pain. As we mentioned earlier, capsaicin cream can be applied to the skin to act as a painkiller. Studies show that capsaicin reduces the amount of substance P, substance P means pain chemical that carries pain messages to the brain.

There is also evidence that capsaicin can relieve pain after surgery like a mastectomy or an amputation, and even alleviates pain from nerve damage in the feet or legs from diabetes, lower back injuries, shingles, and psoriasis! You’ll be glad to know that you can apply this type of cream to relieve that annoying pain.

3) Helps relieve Migraines

Hot peppers may sting you, but it’ll stop stinging migraine pain. If you experience a migraine and then consume a hot pepper, your body will focus on the pain that’s burning your mouth or in a different part of the body. This will then cause the sensation of migraine pain to go away! In a study by the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, the researchers believe capsaicin works by desensitizing the trigeminal nerve and depleting CGRP, the neurotransmitter responsible for migraine pain.

You are tricking your body to feel pain somewhere else, which is a win in our books.

4) Can Help with Weight Loss

That’s right, eating hot peppers can increase your metabolism and decrease your appetite, thus potentially helping you with your weight loss. The capsaicin boosts the thermogenic process, where your body turns calories into heat to use for fuel.

When this process is happening, it utilizes energy that burns additional calories so try adding some hot peppers into your cooking or eat spicy food occasionally! Peppers have low calories and a ton of nutrition so you’re getting bang for your buck.

Not only that, but they can also help you digest food which we all have come to know what happens to our digestive system after we eat a super hot pepper or some spicy food.

5) May Reduce Risks of Cancer

Those chili peppers you grow in your backyard present a potential remedy for fighting cancer. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, the capsaicin and antioxidants in chili peppers can help kill cancer in leukemia and prostate cancer. Capsaicin works as an antioxidant, it’s protecting cells from harmful molecules that can cause cancer.

Although capsaicin triggers a depletion of leukemia and prostate cancer, this could fight against breast, pancreatic, and bladder cancer as well.

6) May Improve Longevity

There are studies saying that consuming spicy food or using common spices has the chance to increase a person’s life to live a longer, heathier life. A study at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences reveals that people who eat spicy food once or twice a week are 10% less likely to die earlier!

The researchers also found that those who eat spicy food three to seven times in a week are less likely to experience cancer, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses.

7) May cause that Runny Nose, but Fights Flu, Cold, and Fungal Infections

Having a runny nose or sinus allergies can be frustrating but imagine having a clear head and nose after using a nasal spray or eating some hot peppers to reduce that congestion! Peppers help build a stronger immune system because they are full of antioxidants, specifically full in beta-carotene or pro-vitamin A. Vitamin A and Vitamin C are key in maintaining a healthy system and will build up your immunity against infections and illnesses.

Chili peppers can also be used for their anti-fungal properties, killing food pathogens and cure a number of inflammatory bowel diseases.

8) Stops Bad Breath

No explanation needed here!

Posted 6/24/2023

Let’s talk about the Peppers. Fact and Fiction.

2.Trinidad Moruga Scorpion 2,009,231 SHU

Straight from the depths of hell the Trinidad Scorpion Moruga is a rare sought after pepper that was only just recently discovered.

Native to the lands of Moruga in Trinidad and Tobago. Once you take a bite of this formidable pepper the heat never stops building.

This pepper may be lacking the Reaper’s stinger, but don’t let that fool you. The Moruga Scorpion is every bit as hot as The Carolina Reaper.

3. 7 Pot Douglah 1,853,936 SHU

Well renown in the pepper community as one of the hottest peppers with the best flavor.

The 7 Pot Douglah is the hottest pepper you can find that isn’t red.

The hottest “superhot” peppers are traditionally red, but the Douglah defies the odds by being brown.

You can’t go wrong with fresh, dried, or powdered Douglah on any food.

Also known as Chocolate 7 Pod or the 7 Pot Brown.

4. 7 Pot Primo 1,469,000 SHU

The 7 Pot Primo is very distinctive with its long skinny “tail”.

This pepper was created by horticulturist Troy Primeaux.

Some peppers cultivators have tried to replicate the Primo look by breeding their own peppers to have a long stinger.

When you just look at this pepper, you know it’s going to be INSANELY hot.

5. Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T” 1,463,700 SHU

The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T is a previous Guinness World Record Holder (2011) from Australia.

It’s insanely hot, but other peppers have been proven to be hotter.

It’s aptly named due to the scorpion stinger found at the tip of the pepper and also the creator, Butch Taylor.

The burn from this pepper is unlike any other.

6. Naga Viper 1,349,000 SHU

Naga Viper is an extremely rare pepper cultivated in the UK. Hybrid of many different peppers and years of cross pollination created this variety of “Super HOT” pepper.

It was never fully stabilized before being released so pod variation is expected.

7. Ghost Pepper (Bhut Jolokia) 1,041,427 SHU

The Ghost Pepper is the most famous “Super Hot” due to the amount of press it has received in the past and availability.

This is the first pepper to scientifically test over 1 million scovilles.

Many mistakenly believe the Ghost Pepper is still the World’s Hottest pepper, this list shows it is far from it.

This isn’t 2007. If you have friends that still think the Ghost Pepper is the hottest pepper, share this page with them.

However, don’t be fooled by how low this is on the list as it can still bring a grown man to his knees.

8. 7 Pot Barrackpore ~1,000,000 SHU

The 7 Pot Barrackpore is one of the hottest of the 7 Pot peppers.

This one is from the Town of Chaguanas in Trinidad and Tobago.

Many of these “super hots” come from this region.

9. 7 Pot Red (Giant) ~1,000,000 SHU

The 7 pots were named after their ability to heat up 7 pots of stew and that it does! There are 100’s of varieties created from crossing this breed with other peppers. Some varieties include 7 Pot Jonah, 7 Pot Yellow, 7 Pot Katie, 7 Pot Barrackpore and countless others.

10. Red Savina Habanero 500,000 SHU

Back in the early years of super hots, the Red Savina Habanero was KING!

It held the title of the World’s Hottest Pepper from 1994 to 2006. 12 Years!

The Red Savina has since been dethroned and many peppers have passed it in heat, but still to this day it is one of my favorite and most used peppers to use because it has the perfect balance of heat and flavor..

The Red Savina just barely makes the Top 10, but does so in fashion with its great flavor and extreme heat.

Now let’s talk about fiction, they do exist but just not proven how hot yet

Dragon’s Breath 2,483,584 SHU

There have been recent reports of a Dragon’s Breath pepper claiming to be hotter than the Carolina Reaper.

Preliminary testing of the Dragon’s Breath pepper pegs it at 2,483,584 SHU which would blow the Carolina Reaper out of the water.

It could be a publicity stunt in which the “news” websites ate up, even claiming Dragon’s Breath could kill you. Technically a pencil can kill you too…

Pepper X SHU not documented

Pepper X is another pepper claiming to be TWICE as hot as the Carolina Reaper, but this might have more merit. Very limited information is know about Pepper X as the creator has kept it under wraps.

In conclusion, you may not recognize most of these peppers (sorry pepper heads, this excludes you)

But after a lot of research these are the top 10 Hottest. Most of you can be happy with a jalapeno or Fresno or a habanero chili but if you are looking for some intense heat, Pick you poison !!

Feel free to add your comments, opinions or pass on your own top 10.

Stay tuned for more from Grumpy Jeff