Sweet peppers are good for your appetite and beauty

In hot weather, the appetite is poor, so eating some sweet or spicy vegetables can stimulate appetite. For example, sweet peppers, green peppers, millet peppers, etc., not only can stimulate appetite, but also are rich in nutrition and nourish the skin. One of them can be called the king of vitamin C among vegetables. As the saying goes, there are so many "peppers" in season nowadays.

Who is the king of vegetable vitamin C?

Bell peppers, also known as bell peppers and lantern peppers, have thick flesh and are sweet and delicious. They are delicious when stir-fried or served cold. In addition to being delicious, they are also high in vitamin C.

Green bell peppers, in particular, contain up to 130 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. Eating 100 grams can meet an adult's daily requirement of 90 mg (about 130 mg for pregnant women) of vitamin C. Among vegetables, the vitamin C content of green bell peppers per 100 grams is second only to chili peppers (144 mg). Because chili peppers are too spicy, it is difficult to consume more than 100 grams per meal, so the king of vegetable vitamin C must be green bell peppers.

When it comes to vitamin C, everyone knows that it can be an antioxidant, but in fact, its benefits to people's health are far more than that! It can promote the synthesis of collagen, which is a very important protein in the skin. As people age, it will be lost, and then wrinkles will easily appear; at the same time, it can improve the utilization of iron, calcium and folic acid, promote the formation of antibodies, and help lower the cholesterol content in the blood. Studies have shown that patients with hypertension can significantly reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure by supplementing 500 mg of vitamin C every day. Sweet peppers are now on the market, and I strongly recommend you to eat them.

Colored peppers are far more nutritious than green bell peppers. Colored peppers, namely red, yellow, and orange bell peppers, although their vitamin C content is lower than that of green bell peppers, the content is as high as 104 mg per 100 grams. Eating 100 grams can also meet the daily vitamin C needs of an adult.

In addition, the beta-carotene content of orange and red peppers is 7-8 times that of green peppers. Beta-carotene is not only an antioxidant, but can also be converted into vitamin A in the body, which is beneficial to eye and skin health.

In addition, the vitamin E content of red and orange peppers is as high as 2.01 and 3.36 mg per 100 grams respectively. Eating 200 grams of orange peppers can meet 48% of the daily requirement of vitamin E. In addition, the total antioxidant phenol and total flavonoid content in yellow and red peppers is also higher than that in green peppers.

However, the price of bell peppers is about three times that of green bell peppers, so it is not cost-effective to use them to supplement β-carotene and vitamin E. It is better to eat carrots to supplement β-carotene. Carrots have about five times the β-carotene of red and orange bell peppers, but the price is only one-sixth of that of bell peppers. As for vitamin E, Chinese citizens basically have enough, so there is no need to eat bell peppers to supplement vitamin E. Phenols and flavonoids are widely present in fruits and vegetables, so there is no need to eat bell peppers specifically to supplement them. In short, bell peppers are nutritious, but they are too expensive.

Green peppers may make you fat

Although the vitamin C content of green peppers is far less than that of sweet peppers, it is still high among vegetables, containing 59 mg per 100 grams. The key is that it is suitable for friends who like spicy food, and different varieties have different spiciness.

The spiciness of green peppers comes from capsaicin. Studies have shown that consuming 4 mg of capsaicin preparations per day can reduce the intake of 252 kcal of energy; some studies have also shown that taking 4 mg of capsaicin per day can reduce the body fat rate by 6.68% compared with the placebo group after 12 weeks. However, these studies not only have a small sample size, generally dozens of people, but also a short duration, at most 3 months, so it can only be said that eating spicy food may be beneficial for weight loss. In addition, eating peppers directly is different from taking capsaicin preparations. Capsaicin preparations are made into capsules and released in the body to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, and the mouth cannot feel the spiciness; eating peppers directly will feel spicy, and people’s first reaction is often to eat a few more bites of food to relieve it, which will consume more energy and may gain weight.

What should you do if you want to eat green peppers but don’t want to gain weight? Prepare a large glass of water when eating, and drink water if it’s spicy; or prepare a pack of skim milk. Casein can encapsulate capsaicin, and skim milk can also provide a certain sense of fullness, so you can eat less high-energy staple foods or oily dishes, and it is not so easy to gain weight.
Sweet peppers, green peppers and other ingredients can be paired with any ingredient, such as eggs, meat, tofu skin, fungus, mushrooms, etc. They can play the leading role or the supporting role. So what are you waiting for? Eat them in different ways.
(The author is a director of the Capital Health Nutrition and Gourmet Society and a registered dietitian)