Chilies & hot peppers | Healthy Life

Nutritionally, fresh chile peppers are an excellent source of calcium and vitamin C. You can make a chile tincture (medicine), especially from the hottest varieties, by drying the peppers and grounding into a powder. Use one or two tablespoons in warm water for relief of may symptoms. Or pack chile powder into gel capsules for use when making a tea is not convenient. Capsaicin is a remarkable health-promoting substance and capsaicin is  the compound that is responsible for the spicy sensation associated with eating a hot pepper. The spicier the pepper is, the more capsaicin it contains. The Scoville Heat Unit scale, which measures capsaicin content from 0 to 15,000,000 Scoville Heat Units, or SHUs, of pure capsaicin, places green chilis between 500 and 2,500 SHUs. The American Institute for Cancer Research reports that eating rich capsaicin sources like green chili peppers may help inhibit the growth of cancer cells, though more research is needed.