While
bell peppers are a very popular vegetable, they have not always
shared the health research spotlight with other members of the pepper
family due to their very minimal content of the phytonutrient
capsaicin, the well-researched pepper compound that gives hot peppers
their "heat." Once active in the body, capsaicin can bind
onto nerve cell receptors and change pain sensation, and it may also
have important anti-cancer and blood-sugar balancing properties.
However, the lack of "heat" or significant amounts of
capsaicin in bell peppers does not mean that this vegetable should be
denied the health research spotlight!
