Black pepper is incredibly popular and truly deserves the title "king of spice". It comes from the peppercorn plant, which is native to a south Indian state Kerala. Pepper fruit is basically a berry obtained from pepper plant. People love the way black pepper enhances taste of dishes. Along with adding a rich taste to your dishes, black pepper offers several amazing health benefits as well. Keep reading to learn more about some of the most impressive black pepper benefits.
What Are the Benefits of Black Pepper?
Black pepper needs to be in your kitchen not only because it adds taste to your dishes, but also because it offers wide range of health benefits.
1. It Improves Digestion
Black pepper is great for your digestive system mainly because of its piperine content. By stimulating your taste buds, it encourages the production of hydrochloric acid, which helps digest proteins and other foods inside stomach. In the absence of enough hydrochloric acid, you will not be able to digest your food properly and this may lead to Diarrhea, indigestion, flatulence, acidity, and Constipation.
Simply adding a tablespoon of freshly ground pepper powder to your meal will do the trick.
2. It Helps You Lose Weight
Everyone wants perfect body shape. Black pepper can just help your body extract all the nutrients from food and boosts your digestive system to prevent bloating. The presence of phytonutrients in black pepper helps break fat cells. Moreover, it promotes urination and sweating, which in turn helps get rid of excess water and toxins. All this helps lower your body weight and makes your Weight Loss program more effective.
3. It Relieves Gas
Thanks to its carminative properties, it helps you find relief from discomfort caused due to flatulence. All you have to do is replace your chili powder with black pepper to make your meals more beneficial for you.
4. It Eliminates Dandruff
One of many black pepper benefits is that it helps get rid of dandruff. No longer do you need to waste money on expensive anti-dandruff shampoos, because anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties of black pepper make it quite effective against dandruff. Simply add a teaspoon of crushed black pepper to a cup of curd, blend it well, and apply on your scalp. Wash your hair after half an hour to get rid of dandruff.
Note: Do not use too much of black pepper or it may irritate your scalp.
5. It Helps Treat Anorexia
Anorexia is a condition in which you lose your appetite. As black pepper works amazingly well to stimulate your taste buds, it also proves beneficial for people with anorexia. Just add a little pepper to anything you eat and you can expect to regain your appetite.
6. It Helps Deal with Depression
Black pepper has a compound called piperine that works as natural anti-depressant and helps improve the cognitive function of the brain.
How to enjoy this benefit:Simply eating black pepper as seasoning on salad will go a long way in improving the brain function and making you feel less depressed.
7. It Improves Complexion
One of many black pepper benefits is that it works as a skin scrub and helps improve your complexion. It works by stimulating blood circulation, which means more nutrients and oxygen will reach the surface of your skin and make it smoother and shinier.
How to enjoy this benefit:Simply, combine half cup of unscented massage oil, a cup of sugar, a pinch of ground pepper, and 6 drops of orange essential oil. Mix these ingredients well and rub it on to your wet skin in the shower for smoother skin.
8.It Relieves Congestion
Black pepper has certain compounds that can irritate your Mucus membranes and promote the production of water mucus. This helps decongest your nasal passages. The next you feel sick and prepare a bowl of chicken soup, simply add a few pinches of pepper to it to make breathing easier.
9. It Reduces Inflammation and Fight Diseases
Black pepper may prove beneficial against Headaches. Headaches usually mean there is inflammation in your body and black pepper has anti-inflammatory properties. It contains the compound called piperine that blocks pain sensations and works extremely well in preventing Arthritis pain.
What's more, piperine in black pepper boosts your body's ability to absorb nutrients. The presence of another substance called curcumin also plays a big role in reducing the severity of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, pancreatic Cancerand Psoriasis.
10. It Keeps Food Fresh
Thanks to its antimicrobial properties, it works amazingly well to keep your food fresh for longer time. The combination of black pepper and salt can help cure and flavor a wide range of meats.
11. Life Trick: It Helps Keep Colors Vibrant
Simply sprinkling black pepper into your washing machine will help keep the colors of your clothes more vibrant longer. A teaspoon of ground pepper per load along with detergent will do its job perfectly well.
How to Enjoy Black Pepper Benefits
Now you have clearer information about different benefits of black pepper,but you should also learn how to add it to your diet to maximize its benefits.
1. How to Add to Your Diet
- The best way to enjoy benefits of black pepper is to sprinkle it on anything you eat. You can also add ground black pepper to stews, soups, beans, eggs and casseroles. If you want to add it to your food, you should ensure that you add it towards the end of your cooking. Heating it longer will affect its benefits.
- Quite interestingly, you can add black pepper to vanilla-flavored foods, such as ice cream or yogurt. It may not sound like a great combination, but you will be pleasantly surprised when you try it.
Precautons: While there are many black pepper benefits,you need to consume it in moderation. Excessive amounts of black pepper may lead to bleeding from the ulcer sites and result in gastrointestinal irritation as well. It means you should avoid black pepper if you already have issues such as ulcerative Colitis, stomach Ulcers and diverticulitis.
2. Take the Best Black Pepper
Moreover, you can maximize benefits of black pepper by selecting the best quality pepper. The best thing is to buy whole peppercorns in place of pepper powder because it sometimes contains adulterated spicy powders. You can mill it using hand mill and store it at room temperature. If you have powdered pepper, be sure to store it inside your refrigerator in airtight containers.
What's more, it is a great idea to use white, black, and green peppercorns interchangeably to enjoy amazing benefits. Green pepper is known for its fresh flavor, whereas white pepper is less aromatic but is very hot. So, using different peppercorns will keep things interesting and spicy of course.
