It turns out black pepper serves up all sorts of health benefits including improved digestion, helps relieve coughs and colds, treats skin problems, and boosts metabolism to enhance weight loss efforts.

15 Benefits of Black Pepper

An added bonus is black pepper contains dietary fiber with a small amount of protein and carbohydrate. It is loaded with minerals including calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, and sodium (but in moderate levels).

According to the USDA National Nutrient Database, black pepper also contains vitamin B6, E, K, and folate as well black pas niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin. Looks like a Superfood, doesn’t it ?

1. Loaded with Antioxidants

All of us are exposed to free radicals (toxins, chemicals, and pollutants) every single day that can damage our healthy cells. Black pepper can help repair that damage and in turn, help reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases.

2. Enhances Digestion

Black pepper stimulates the entire digestive system, from the salivary glands to the large intestine including the all-important digestive juices such as bile and acids that help digest our food.

Those dealing with ulcers, either in the mouth or digestive system, or have been instructed to be on a bland diet, black pepper makes a delicious, healthy alternative to chili peppers, for example, and will add great flavor to any meal.

3. Helps You Sweat

Sweating is a good for you because it helps the body remove foreign bodies and toxins. Did you know that 4% of urine is fat?  Black pepper helps the body remove excess water through urination that removes urea, fat, excess water, and uric acid.

4. Support weight loss efforts

Since black pepper enhances digestion, it can go a long way in helping your body function better including supporting weight loss efforts. The breakdown of fat cells can be supported by the outer layer of the peppercorn, making it easier to be processed by the body, so black pepper can help you lose weight more easily.

5. Helps Get Rid of Gas

While this doesn’t sound pleasant, black pepper helps expel gas out of the body which is a good thing. Gas that stays within the body can put a strain on the vital organs including the upper chest cavity which is why it can make you feel uncomfortable.

6. Provides Relief from Vitiligo

A skin disease that can cause areas of the skin to turn white by losing its normal pigmentation.  Black pepper contains ‘piperine’ that stimulates the skin to produce melanocytes pigment. This can be a healthier alternative when combined with ultraviolet light therapy instead of using harsh chemical treatments to eliminate and prevent this type of skin condition.

7. Treats Coughs and Colds

Common in Ayurvedic medicine, pepper is used to provide relief from nasal congestion and sinusitis by breaking up phlegm and mucus in the respiratory tract so it can be eliminated easier for a faster recovery. Enjoy a bowl of chicken noodle soup seasoned with black pepper to help treat your cough or cold.

8. Fights Infection

Black pepper is often used in Ayurvedic medicine to fight infections including insect bites.  Pepper acts very similar to fiber in that it helps get rid of excess cholesterol from the arterial wall, reducing the risk of developing atherosclerosis, a condition linked to stroke and heart attacks.

In the same way, pepper is active against bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus sphaerius, and Bacillus subtilis.

9. Supports Absorption of Nutrients

Adding black pepper to your food helps the body absorb the nutrients from the food that you eat, making the nutrients more accessible to your system, ensuring maximum absorption by transporting vitamins, minerals, and other compounds to different areas of the body.

10. Speeds Up Absorption of Drugs

If you have to take medication for a health condition, black pepper can speed up the absorption of that medication from the time it takes to travel through the gastrointestinal tract, preventing the drug from being oxidized or metabolized when it first passes through the liver.  As a result, it may speed up your recovery any ailment.

11. Supports Brain Function

Black pepper stimulates the chemical pathways in the brain helping to improve memory and cognitive function.  For example, preliminary studies have shown that pepper is powerful in helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and improve memory by healing nerve damage in the hippocampus.

It does this by preventing free radicals (toxins, chemicals, and pollutants) from damaging the healthy cells in the brain.

12. Acts as an Anti-Depressant

In addition to acting as an anti-depressant, black pepper helps you think more clearly and improves cognitive ability.  It is due to the effect on the regulation of serotonin in the brain, a neurotransmitter that affects mood, as well as dopamine that supports brain function.

13. Anti-inflammatory

By reducing and stopping the death of cells, black pepper serves as a powerful anti-inflammatory, something that plays a huge role in preventing and treating Parkinson’s disease that affects physical movement in the body.

14. Helps You Quit Smoking

Black pepper essential oil is used in devices such as electric cigarettes that create a sensation in the respiratory tract of regular smoke, thus satisfying and reducing cravings for cigarettes, making it easier to quit smoking altogether.

In certain situations, black pepper can be a good treatment for respiratory conditions, such as asthma, due to its strong anti-inflammatory properties.

15. Helps Improve Overall Health

In addition to adding taste and flavor to any meal, black pepper is effective in treating many health conditions from tooth decay and toothaches to earaches and hernias. In fact, vision problems were treated with black pepper in ancient times.

As you can see, black pepper is good for you in more ways than one.  You may want to invest in a good quality pepper grinder in order to use whole peppercorns that can stay fresh indefinitely.  Black pepper is available all year round at www.zenspicetraders.com.

If you have ground black pepper at home now, store it in the refrigerator to help it stay fresh longer.

Zen Spice Traders is not the author of this content and shares this information as a service to our website viewers.  The original source is https://fcer.org/black-pepper-benefits/