19/10/2017
Aside from being the most common seasoning in almost any dish, there are also plenty of health benefits that we can derive from black pepper.
1. Promotes good digestion
Black pepper contains many essential oils such as piperine, which contains the following hydrocarbons: pinene, sabinene, terpinene, myrcene, and limonene. These active compounds increase the motility of the intestines by stimulating the production of gastrointestinal enzymes. Piperine also increases the absorption of minerals from the food digested by the body.
2. Maintains a healthy heart
A healthy diet with black pepper as one of its ingredients will give you some much-needed potassium which helps control your heart rate and blood pressure.
3. Expels harmful free-radicals
High concentrations of free radicals may cause the development of cancer. Fortunately, black pepper contains flavonoids such as cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, carotene, and lycopene –
powerful antioxidants which expel harmful free-radicals from the body.
4. Sheds excess weight naturally
The pericarp, or the outer layer of the pepper, helps break down fat cells, making them easily absorbed by the body rather than becoming stored, unburned fats. Adding black pepper to your dishes is a good way to naturally lose weight.
5. Treats cough and asthma
Black pepper has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that can treat coughs and asthma. It is also an expectorant, which clears out the air passage by expelling phlegm.
6. Helps cure vitiligo
The piperine in black pepper helps cure vitiligo, a skin disease characterized by white patches due to loss of pigmentation. Piperine is believed to stimulate the melanocytes to produce melanin which is responsible for skin pigmentation.
7. Relieves nasal congestion
Black pepper effectively loosens up blocked nasal passage through sneezing and also relieves cold and sinusitis by curing the inflamed tissues.