Green and shiny green chilies, and bright red red chilies, are vegetables loved by many people.
Most people enjoy spicy and sweet chilies; some southerners particularly love the extremely hot朝天椒 (pointed chilies); most northerners prefer sweet and non-spicy bell peppers. Chili peppers are quite nutritious, especially high in vitamin C content, ranking among the highest in vegetables. 100 grams of chili peppers contain 105 mg of vitamin C.
Chili peppers also have important medicinal value. When one's appetite is poor and food intake decreases, adding some chili peppers to dishes can improve appetite and increase food consumption. Drinking a small amount of chili pepper decoction orally can treat poor appetite, abdominal bloating, and abdominal pain caused by cold exposure. Drinking a soup made with chili peppers and ginger can treat wind-cold; it is especially suitable for patients who also have indigestion.
Why can chili peppers strengthen the stomach and aid digestion? It turns out they contain a component called capsaicin, which stimulates the mouth and gastrointestinal tract. This can enhance gastrointestinal motility, promote digestive juice secretion, improve appetite, and inhibit abnormal fermentation in the intestines, expelling accumulated gas in the digestive tract. Eating some chili peppers appropriately is also beneficial for people living in humid environments to prevent rheumatism and frostbite.
Although chili peppers are rich in nutrients and have important medicinal value, excessive consumption can harm human health. Because excessive capsaicin can severely irritate the gastrointestinal mucosa, causing it to become highly congested and motility to increase, leading to stomach pain, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a burning and stinging sensation in the anus, inducing gastrointestinal diseases and promoting hemorrhoid bleeding. Therefore, patients suffering from esophagitis, gastroenteritis, gastric ulcers, and hemorrhoids should eat less or avoid chili peppers. Due to the nature of chili peppers being very acrid and hot, conditions such as acute conjunctivitis, toothache, sore throat, hemoptysis, sores, and carbuncles, or high blood pressure, pulmonary tuberculosis, and other conditions characterized by yin deficiency and fire hyperactivity, should also be consumed with caution.