by Dave Dewitt
•To tame the heat, remove the veins and seeds by scraping the inside of the pods with a spoon. Rinse superhot pickled chiles with water.
•When cooking with superhot chiles and expecting guests, take it easy on the number of chiles. Not everyone might have the tolerance for heat that you have developed yourself.
•It is easier to kick up a dish at the table (chopped chiles or hot sauce) than toning down the heat of a finished one!
•Be particularly careful with the superhots—one pod, fresh or dried, goes a very long way.
But if a dish turns out to be too hot, here are a few tips on how to lower the heat:
•Chili con carne: add more beans or tomatoes (or tomato sauce).
•Soups: thin with broth or—if recipe allows—stir in sour cream or cream.
•Serve sour cream or shredded cheese on the side.
•Fruity salsas: add more fruit (mango, peach, pineapple, banana).
• Water does not lower the capsaicin heat although it will momentarily relieve some of the pain.
AN UNDESERVEDLY BAD REPUTATION
Because they are so hot, legend has held for centuries that chiles must be dangerous. Interestingly enough, they are reputed to aggravate some of the very conditions they are supposed to relieve, such as acid indigestion, cancer, dysentery, ulcers, and wounds.
We have demonstrated that capsaicin can cause burning of the skin and hands, a malady now known as “Hunan hand.” Yet a topically applied, capsaicin-based cream is used to treat phantom-limb pain, a painful condition experienced by amputees. Another example of chiles as cause and cure is jaloproctitis, a burning sensation that occurs during and after the elimination of jalapeños. Yet red chiles are reputed to be a cure for hemorrhoids.
A 1988 study at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Houston backs up the contention that chiles are safe to eat. As reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association, a team of doctors at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston conducted a unique experiment utilizing videoendoscopy, the high-tech procedure of inserting a fiber-optic tube and a miniature video camera into the stomach to inspect it visually.
The object of the experiment was to test the generally held theory that capsaicin, the active heat chemical in chile peppers, damages the lining of the stomach. The research team, led by Dr. David Graham, subjected 12 volunteers (none were chile lovers) to a series of test items—bland food, plain aspirin, “Mexican” food, and pizza. After each meal, the endoscope was inserted to determine if “gastric erosions” of the lining had occurred. By far, the most damaging meal was the bland one combined with aspirin.
Not believing their results, the research team then sprayed Tabasco Sauce directly on the stomach lining. There was mucosal damage this time, but it was linked to the vinegar in the sauce. To further test capsaicin alone, the good doctors then injected 30 grams of freshly ground jalapeños directly into the stomach. There was no visible mucosal damage.
Dr. Graham concludes in his study: “We found that ingestion of highly spiced meals by normal individuals did not cause endoscopically demonstrable gastric or duodenal mucosal damage.” However, in an interview published in the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Graham admits that chiles increase gastric acid secretion, but “they add to the flavor and enjoyment of eating and do not appear to cause stomach lining damage.” In fact, some gastroenterologists suggest that capsaicin may actually protect the lining of the stomach from damage due to aspirin or alcohol.
Some medical researchers have suggested that capsaicin is both a cause and potential cure of some forms of cancer. According to one report, capsaicin has been linked to colon cancer through studies conducted among chile pepper eaters in India and Korea. In 1984, researchers at the Eppley Institute at the University of Nebraska reported that capsaicin had flunked the Ames test—a quick bacterial assay used to screen possible carcinogens.
But additional research has indicated that the reputed carcinogenic properties of chile peppers have been highly exaggerated. During the same study, the Eppley research team also discovered that the antioxidant properties of the capsaicin may be capable of neutralizing harmful chemicals in the body that are responsible for some types of cancer. Investigator Peter Gannett states that capsaicin prevents the formation of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)—a known animal carcinogen—by binding to and inactivating the enzymes that produce the chemical. In the liver, capsaicin is apparently transformed into a compound that soaks up chemicals called free radicals, which are thought to cause cancer.
“Some of the chemicals in hot peppers appear to be cancer-causing, but the same ones can protect against cancer,” says Peter Gannett of the University of Nebraska Medical Center. “The overall effect depends upon how much you eat.” Skeptics insist that the researchers are trying to scare us again with another potential carcinogen, just as they have in the past with the highly exaggerated dangers of coffee, sugar, and cranberries.
One critic calculates that a person would have to consume two pounds of capsaicin to see the effects the Nebraska research suggested. Since we can taste capsaicin in solutions as diluted as one part per million, there may only be a few pounds of capsaicin in the entire annual world crop of chiles!
PEPPERS AS PANACEA
It is now evident that the value of chile peppers as a nutritional food and a medicine far outweighs any supposed risk. A 1982 study of chile consumption in Thai people, conducted at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, concludes: “Capsicum, a hot appetizer and seasoning, has been found to induce increased fibrinolytic activity and simultaneously cause hypocoagulability of the blood when ingested.” Translated, the statement means that Thais have a lower risk of blood clots because they eat chiles!
Recently, capsaicin has been used in yet another medical application—to treat the intense pain caused by shingles. Shingles is an eruption of unpleasant skin blisters caused by herpes zoster, the chicken-pox virus. Topically applied capsaicin depletes substance P, which carries pain impulses to the brain from nerves in the skin, thus effectively short-circuiting the agony. It is basically the same process that allows the chile lover to adapt to greater and greater amounts of hot chiles. The treatment for shingles is now available in an over-the-counter cream called Zostrix™, which is also being tested for the relief of mastectomy pain, diabetic neuropathy, and phantom-limb pain.
Undoubtedly, further medical uses of chile peppers and capsaicin will be found. I believe, however, that their greatest benefit to mankind is their addition to the foods we eat.
Wholesome Heat
Pity the poor maligned pods! Ever since their first usage in prehistoric South America, chile peppers have gained a reputation for being both a remedy for some ailments and an aggravation of others. The first warning was issued in 1590, when the Jesuit priest and historian José de Acosta warned of the reputed aphrodisiac qualities of chiles, saying the fruit of the pepper plant was “prejudicial to the health of young folks, chiefly to the soul, for it provokes to lust.” Unfortunately, this assertion was never proven to be true.
Today, chiles are sometimes cited as being both the cure and the cause of the same ailment! For example, chiles have a reputation in the United States for irritating the digestive tract, yet a popular Mexican stomachache cure is to chew up and swallow a whole serrano chile. Such a contradiction begs for resolution, and the only way to proceed is to examine the historical record and compare it to modern experiments—a tedious and frustrating task, since all the research has not been completed.
Since I began researching chile peppers in 1977, I have maintained a list of the maladies supposedly treated or cured by the use of chile peppers, both topically applied and eaten. The efficacy of chile as a treatment for most of these conditions has not been scientifically verified and thus remains on the level of a folk remedy. However, as we shall see, some of the following conditions have been successfully treated with capsaicin, the chemical that gives chiles their heat: acid indigestion, acne, ague, alcoholism, anorexia, apople
xy, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, asthma, blood clots, boils, bronchitis, cancer, catarrh, cholera, colic, colds, congestion, conjunctivitis, coughs, cramps, croup, dropsy, dysentery, ear infections, epilepsy, fever, gout, headache, hemorrhoids, herpes, liver congestion, malaria, migraine, night blindness, phantom-limb pain, low blood pressure, rheumatism, seasickness, scurvy, sore throats, stomachaches, tonsillitis, toothaches, tumors, ulcers, vascular problems, venereal disease, vertigo, and wounds.
One of the first real breakthroughs to prove the efficacy of chile peppers occurred when vitamin C was determined to be a link between chiles and scurvy prevention.
Wholesome Heat: Vitamins C and A
Chile peppers were responsible for the awarding of a Nobel Prize. In 1928, Albert Szent-Györgyi, a professor at the University of Szeged in Hungary, was experimenting with a then- mysterious chemical he called “God-knows” because no one knew what its uses were. At first he produced small quantities of the chemical from the adrenal glands of cattle, and eventually he named it ascorbic acid.
Since Szent-Györgyi lived in the heart of paprika country, it was only natural that his wife would prepare a dish made from those chiles, but the professor did not care for her meal and joked that if he could not eat it, he could at least experiment with it! He took the paprika to his laboratory and made history by discovering that the pods were an excellent source of ascorbic acid, which we now call vitamin C.
In 1937, Szent-Györgyi was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine for his work with vitamin C. In 1978, he wrote, “I strongly believe that a proper use of ascorbic acid can profoundly change our vital statistics, including those for cancer. For this, ascorbic acid would have to cease to be looked upon as a medicine, sold in milligram pills by the druggist. It would have to become a household article, like sugar and salt and flour.” Of course, today vitamin C is both a medicine and a household article!
One of the earliest uses of the vitamin C in chile peppers was, as with citrus fruits, in preventing that scourge of the high seas, scurvy. The historian and naturalist Bernabé Cobo wrote in 1653 that after the Spanish sailors discovered chiles in Mexico, they took ají en escabeche with them on voyages. Today, chile peppers are used as an excellent source of both vitamins C and A.
Vitamin C promotes growth and tissue repair and is important for healthy blood vessels, bones, and teeth. Undoubtedly, vitamin C is essential in resisting diseases, but the way it functions is not clear despite claims by some promoters that large doses will prevent colds and other maladies.
Green chiles are quite high in vitamin C, with twice the amount as citrus, while dried red chiles contain more vitamin A than carrots. In this way the two chile pepper vitamins are complete opposites. Vitamin C is one of the least stable of all the vitamins; it will break down chemically through heat, exposure to air, solubility in water, and dehydration. Vitamin A, however, is one of the most stable vitamins and is not affected by canning, cooking, or time.
Despite its tendency to break down, a high percentage of vitamin C in fresh green chiles is retained in canned and frozen products; however, the vitamin C content drops dramatically in the dried red pods and powder. Each 100 grams of fresh, ripe chile pods contains 369 milligrams of vitamin C, which diminishes by more than half to 154 milligrams in the dried red pods. Red chile powder contains less than 3 percent of the vitamin C of ripe pods, a sorry 10 milligrams.
However, in an incredible turnabout, vitamin A dramatically increases as the pod turns red and dries, from 770 units per 100 grams of green pods to 77,000 in freshly processed dried red pods. This hundredfold rise in vitamin A content is the result of increasing carotene, the chemical that produces the orange and red colors of ripe peppers. Vitamin A helps maintain normal vision in dim light, is important for skeletal growth and tooth structure, and is necessary for proper birth and lactation. The recommended daily allowances for these vitamins are 5000 international units for A, and 60 milligrams for C. These allowances can be satisfied daily by eating about a teaspoonful of red chile sauce for vitamin A, and about one ounce of fresh green chile for vitamin C.
Chiles as Calorie Conquerors
Stated in simple terms, the weight of any animal is a matter of balance: the intake of food versus the expenditure of energy. If we consume more calories than our bodies need for daily activity, the excess energy is stored as fat; if we consume fewer calories than we need, our bodies burn the stored fat.
The most efficient way to lose weight is to cut down on caloric intake while burning off excess calories through exercise. To lose one pound a week, we must decrease our daily food intake by 500 calories or burn 500 additional calories by exercise. But moderation is important; severe dieting or excessive exercise is not recommended. Since caloric and exercise levels vary dramatically from person to person depending on age, height, weight, gender, metabolic rate, and body frame, I suggest that persons who are severely overweight or need a special diet should consult with their physician or dietitian.
Because chiles are naturally low in calories, there is little worry about gaining weight while eating peppers. However, dieters should be careful about the foods they combine with hot peppers. And believe it or not, evidence has come to light indicating that chiles may indeed assist in burning calories. In 1986, researchers at Oxford Polytechnic Institute in England conducted an experiment in TEF, an acronym for “thermic effects of food.” Twelve volunteers ate identical 766-calorie meals. On one day, three grams each of chile powder and mustard were added to the meals; on the next day, nothing was added. On the days chile and mustard were added, the volunteers burned from 4 to 76 additional calories, with an average of 45.
A possible explanation for the process is the fact that certain hot spices—especially chiles—temporarily speed up the body’s metabolic rate. After eating, the metabolic rate increases anyway, a phenomenon known as “diet-induced thermic effect.” But chiles boost that effect by a factor of 25 percent, which seems to indicate that increasing the amount of chile in a recipe could reduce the effective caloric content—provided, of course, that one does not drink more beer to counter the added heat.
Another intriguing possibility has been suggested by T. George Harris, who writes in American Health magazine that chiles stimulate the taste buds but not the sense of smell. Thus they “perk up food without adding fat.” Harris adds that he formerly made jokes about the hot pepper diet; but now, “over the last couple of years, chile peppers have begun to emerge as the nutritional heroes of the future.”
Chiles as Cholesterol Conquerors
Although cholesterol is necessary for the formation of hormones and cell membranes, the substance has been associated with coronary artery disease and other circulatory disorders, primarily because the human body manufactures its own cholesterol and consequently does not need the excess supplied by meats, poultry, seafood, and dairy products. Cholesterol is totally absent from plant tissue, and that is where hot peppers enter the picture.
In some cuisines, chiles have long been associated with high-cholesterol ingredients such as lard, dairy products, and fatty meats such as pork and beef. Eating chile pepper–laden food will help reverse this trend by utilizing low-cholesterol substitutions. Perhaps the most important substitution is the replacement of solid fats with nonsaturated oils, such as the use of margarine for butter—or, better still, vegetable oil for either. Soups and stews should be chilled so that solid fat can be skimmed off before serving. Another important low-cholesterol substitution in Mexican cooking calls for the replacement of hard cheeses (such as cheddar and Jack) with cottage, pot, feta, or skim-milk ricotta cheeses. Low-fat or skim milk should replace whole milk and cream; egg yolks should be used sparingly, if at all. As protein sources, choose lean meat, fish, poultry, beans, and peas.
Here are some hints for reducing the cholesterol levels in the recipes:
• Limit the use of fats and oils by substituting unsaturated oils such as corn or safflower for lard, butter, and palm oil–and
coconut oil–based shortenings.
•Remove fat from meat, and fatty skin from poultry and fish, before cooking.
•Avoid frying or deep frying foods; broil, bake, steam, or poach instead.
•Substitute chile pepper–based dressings (such as salsas) for fatty (mayonnaise-based) dressings.
Fiery Fiber and Starch
I recommend the combination of chiles with starchy foods to provide needed fiber and starch without increasing the calories consumed. Fiber is the part of the plant cell wall that cannot be totally digested by humans. The benefits of fiber in the diet, and in the treatment of colon cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, are still under investigation, but most dietitians recommend consumption of a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
Starch is a complex carbohydrate occurring naturally in foods such as beans, peas, corn, breads, cereals, and pasta. It is widely thought to be fattening, but starch provides a mere four calories per gram; what are fattening are the additional ingredients we add to starchy foods, such as butter on potatoes. The best chiles for high-fiber cookery are those that are used whole, with seeds and skins intact. In this category are pickled peppers and small hot chiles such as serranos and jalapeños used in salsas. Remember that fresh green chiles do not have to be peeled and seeded in all cases; for use in salsas and salads, they can simply be chopped up. For extra fiber, add chopped bell peppers to recipes, mixed, of course, with the proper balance of hot chiles.
Low-Sodium Spiciness
One of the diets people have the most trouble following is one that is sodium-restricted. As the level of sodium is lowered, the meals become less tasty to the dieter accustomed to a high salt level. Also, the recipes become more difficult to prepare because of the varying sodium levels of the ingredients themselves. I suggest that chile peppers are very useful for the low-sodium dieter.
