I went to the local Farmer’s Market last Saturday morning on my usual trip to buy a week’s worth of fresh organic vegetables. What beauty delighted my eyes! Sweet Peppers- all colors of the rainbow!
I bought some of every color- even some purple ones! And brought them home with thoughts of eating fajitas, stuffed peppers, and crunchy salads all week.
Sweet, or Bell Peppers, as well as being some of the most beautiful vegetables (in my humble opinion) are packed with nutrients and are very low in calories and fats.
- Sweet peppers contain an alkaloid compound capsaicin. Early laboratory studies on experimental mammals suggest that capsaicin has anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, analgesic and anti-diabetic properties. When used judiciously it also found to reduce triglycerides and LDL cholesterol levels in obese individuals. (1,2)
- Fresh bell peppers, especially the red ones, are rich source of vitamin-C. 1 cup of fresh red pepper provide about 190 mcg or about 317% of RDA. (3)
- They contain anti-oxidant flavonoids such as α and ß carotenes, lutein, zeaxanthin, and cryptoxanthin. Together with vit C, these antioxidant substances in capsicum helps to protect body from injurious effects of free radicals generated during stress and diseases conditions.
- Bell pepper has adequate levels of essential minerals. Some of main minerals in it are iron, copper, zinc, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium. (4)
- Capsicum is also good in B-complex group of vitamins such as niacin, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin, and thiamin (vitamin B-1).
So run out to your local market and pick up some of these colorful peppers. Here is a late summer recipe to get you started:
Tomato and Pepper Salad
Ingredients
- 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- a few drops of Stevia
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
- In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, and bell pepper. Mix the vinegar, stevia, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl, and pour over the salad. Gently toss to coat. Cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Adding feta cheese and fresh cilantro works well, too.
Enjoy!
Robin
References:
1. J Med Food. 2011 Mar;14(3):310-5.Dietary capsaicin attenuates metabolic dysregulation in genetically obese diabetic mice.Kang JH, Tsuyoshi G, Le Ngoc H, Kim HM, Tu TH, Noh HJ, Kim CS, Choe SY, Kawada T, Yoo H, Yu R.Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Ulsan, Nam-ku, Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
2. Biomed Res. 2011;32(4):279-84.Capsiate, a non-pungent capsaicin analog, reduces body fat without weight rebound. Haramizu S, Kawabata F, Ohnuki K, Inoue N, Watanabe T, Yazawa S, Fushiki T.Laboratory of Nutrition Chemistry, Division of Food Science and Biotechnology,Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502,Japan.
3. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2896/2
4. Lancet. 2000 Jul 15;356(9225):233-41.The importance of selenium to human health.Rayman MP.Centre for Nutrition and Food Safety, School of Biological Sciences, Universityof Surrey, Guildford, UK.
One Comment
Great. Making this nutritional snack is really very healthy. Thank you.
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[...] just eat my way through their delicious goodness! This past week was peppers: take a look at my blog on sweet peppers for nutrition info and an easy salad [...]
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