Health Benefits of Chili Powder

Knowing all the wonderful health benefits contained in your spice rack certainly makes creating your meals much more fun.  Many blindly grab their favorite spices while others sit in the back, only to be used on rare occasions.  Let’s shine some light on the health benefits that chili powder has to offer that will make you want to add it to your favorites.  Chili powder contains vitamins A and C, potassium, iron, zinc, calcium, selenium and manganese.

Vitamin A fights cancer by inhibiting the production of DNA in cancerous cells, slows tumor growth, keeps skin and mucous membrane cells healthy, reduces risk of stroke, promotes eye health, protects against heart disease, boosts our immune systems promotes cell growth and prevents signs of aging.  It’s also a powerful antioxidant that fights of the oxidative stress of free radicals and ensures a healthy reproductive system.

Vitamin C is another antioxidant powerhouse that fights off cancer causing free radical damage.  It’s also key for a healthy immune system, cancer prevention, heart attack and stroke prevention, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling.  It also improves blood flow, lowers cholesterol, helps combat against stress, regulates blood sugar levels, improves symptoms of asthma, reduces arthritis symptoms, reduces cataracts risk and prevents neurological disorders.  It also supports the good bacteria in our gut, destroys detrimental bacteria and viruses, removes heavy metals, protects us from pollution, helps detoxify our bodies and promotes healing of all of our cells.

Potassium is important for good nerve and muscle function as well as for maintaining a healthy balance of fluids in the body.   It helps prevent muscle cramps after exercise and is a critical electrolyte that allows our muscles to move, our nerves to fire, and our kidneys to filter blood.  The right balance of potassium literally allows the heart to beat because it helps trigger your heart’s squeeze of blood through your body.  It also reduces our risk of stroke, lowers blood pressure, prevents kidney stones, improves cardiovascular health and helps the digestive processes.

Iron is essential for the proper growth and development, helps metabolize proteins, plays a role in the production of hemoglobin and red blood cells, ensures proper brain function and is essential for healthy muscles.  It also acts as an oxygen carrier that helps transfer oxygen from one body cell to another which is a critical function  because oxygen is required by each and every body part to perform routine body functions.

There are more than 300 different enzymes that require zinc to function normally.  It helps with proper functioning of the immune and digestive systems, control of diabetes, reduction of stress levels, energy metabolism, protein synthesis, helps regulate the cell production in the immune system and increases the rate of healing for acne and wounds.  It’s also helpful with hair care, eczema, weight loss, night blindness, shortening severity of colds, eye care, appetite loss and many other minor conditions.

Calcium is important in maintaining strong bones and teeth, promotes heart health, plays a crucial role in nerve transmission and muscular function, prevents cancer, prevents kidney stones, alleviates premenstrual syndrome, helps control blood pressure and helps nutrients move across cell membranes.  It also helps with maintaining a healthy weight because it promotes more fat to be burned and less fat to be stored.

Selenium aids in many of the metabolic pathways, it benefits the skin during healing following burn injuries, alleviates dandruff problems and has antioxidant properties the help regenerate vitamins E and C, thereby decreasing the aging of skin.  It has been found to improve the immune system against bacterial and viral infections, against cancer cells and herpes virus, cold sores, and shingles.  A major nutritional benefit of selenium is increasing the HDL cholesterol to LDL cholesterol for a healthy heart.  It is an antioxidant that is present in every cell of the body and its’ antioxidant properties help protect us against cancer causing free radicals and stimulates the immune system to kill off early tumors.

Manganese is necessary for bone health because it helps ensure healthy bone structure, bone metabolism, and helps in building essential enzymes for building bones. It also acts as a coenzyme to assist metabolic progression in the human body.  Manganese is also involved in forming connective tissues, absorption of calcium, proper functioning of thyroid, sex hormones, regulating blood sugar level, and metabolism of fats and carbohydrates.

With all the benefits packed into chili powder, it deserves to be used more in your recipe rotation because your body will thank you.

Health Benefits of Oregano

Oregano is commonly thought of as the “pizza spice” but it can be used in a variety of recipes.  It has tiny pungent leaves that provide a strong and distinct flavor.  Along with a wonderful flavor, this tiny herb provides amazing health benefits that are often overlooked.  Let’s explore the benefits it offers in such a small package.

Oregano contains high amounts of Omega-3s, iron, manganese, and antioxidants.  Omega-3s offer a wide range of health benefits such as lowering cholesterol and your blood fat (triglyceride) levels which lowers your risk of heart disease.  They also have an anti-inflammatory effect helpful to those suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis and Cystic Fibrosis because they reduce joint pain and stiffness.  These same anti-inflammatory properties are beneficial to those with asthma.  Researchers have found that cultures that eat foods with high levels of omega-3s have lower levels of depression as well.  Omega 3s are also important for visual and neurological development of infants.  Some research suggests that omega-3s may help protect against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and have a positive effect on gradual memory loss linked to aging.  It also lowers your risk of heart attack and stroke, helps prevent colon, breast, and prostate cancers as well as alleviates acne and psoriasis symptoms.

Iron is essential for proper growth and development of the human body.  One of the most important health benefits of iron is that it acts as a carrier of oxygen and helps transfer oxygen from one body cell to another. This is critical since oxygen is required by each and every body part to perform routine body functions.  It also helps with metabolizing proteins and in production of hemoglobin, enzymes and red blood cells.  It also plays a role in muscle health because it helps carry oxygen from hemoglobin and leaves it throughout muscle cells, which is necessary for the contraction of muscles.  It also plays a key role in strengthening the immune system by making it strong enough to fight off infections.  Other key benefits are its’ role in energy production, treatment of insomnia, and help in regulating body temperature.

Some of the health benefits of manganese include its’ beneficial role in ensuring healthy bone structure, bone metabolism, and helping to create essential enzymes for building bones. It also acts as a co-enzyme to assist metabolic activity in the human body, helps in the formation of connective tissues, ensures proper functioning of the thyroid gland and sex hormones, plays an important role in the absorption of calcium, helps in the regulation of blood sugar levels, and the metabolism of fats and carbohydrates.

Antioxidants fight off free radical damage, oxidative damage plays a huge role in many diseases such as muscle and tissue degeneration, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.  They also boost immune health, provide anti-inflammatory benefits, improve brain cell function, slows the signs of aging, support heart health and nervous system function, regulate blood pressure, improves cardiovascular health and provide energy.  They also prevent Alzheimer’s disease and reduce symptoms of diseases, such as pancreatitis, multiple sclerosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Oregano is also a rich source of vitamin K which promotes bone growth, the maintenance of bone density, and the production of blood clotting proteins.  It also prevents cardiovascular disease, dementia, osteoporosis and cancer.  Vitamin K also promotes healthy brain function, a healthy digestive system, improves immune system function, regulates blood sugar level and speeds up wound healing.  A new 2014 study on vitamin K confirms that an abundant vitamin K intake can help you live longer.  In a group of more than 7,000 people at high risk for cardiovascular disease, people with the highest intake of vitamin K were 36% less likely to die from any cause at all, compared with those having the lowest intake.

Oregano also offers antifungal and antibacterial properties.  Oregano contains the two phytochemicals carvacol and thymol which are powerful antimicrobials.  Research has shown that the essential oils from oregano may kill the foodborne pathogen Listeria4 and the superbug MRSA.  This makes it a great and natural addition to hand soaps and disinfectants.  It also helps in destroy certain types of candida.

There is no doubting that this little herb offers a spectacular array of benefits and deserves a lot more credit than “the pizza spice”.