Everyone knows that consuming too much salt is bad for your health. But no one mentions the potential impact of the other seasoning in the cruet game: black pepper. Does it have an effect on your health?
Certainly, people through the ages have thought so. Black pepper, dried berries piper black vine, has been part of the tradition Indian medicine (ayurvedic) for thousands of years. Ayurvedic practitioners believe it has “carnation” properties – ie relieves flatulence.
And in traditional Chinese medicine, black pepper is used to treat epilepsy.
Modern science suggests that black pepper does in fact confer health benefits, primarily as a result of an alkaloid called piperine, the chemical that gives pepper its pungent flavor and a powerful antioxidant.
Antioxidants are molecules that absorb harmful substances called “free radicals.” An unhealthy diet, too much sun exposure, alcohol, and smoking can all increase the amount of free radicals in your body.
An excess of these unstable molecules can damage cells, making people age faster and leading to a host of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, asthma and diabetes.
Laboratory studies in animals and cells have shown that piperine counteracts these free radicals. In A studythe rats were divided into several groups, with some rats fed a normal diet and other rats fed a high-fat diet.
One group of rats received a high-fat diet supplemented with black pepper and another group of rats received a high-fat diet supplemented with piperine.
Rats fed a high-fat diet supplemented with black pepper or piperine had significantly fewer markers of free radical damage compared to rats fed a high-fat diet alone. In fact, their markers of free radical damage were comparable to those of rats fed a normal diet.
Piperine also has anti-inflammatory properties. Chronic inflammation is linked to a variety of diseases, including autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Again, animal studies have shown that piperine reduces inflammation and pain in rats with arthritis.
Black pepper may also help the body better absorb certain beneficial compounds, such as resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, berries, and peanuts. Studies suggest that resveratrol can protect against heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes.
However, the problem with resveratrol is that it tends to break down before the intestine can absorb it into the bloodstream. However, black pepper has been found to increase the “bioavailability” of resveratrol. In other words, there is more available for the body to use.
Black pepper can also improve the absorption of curcumin, which is the active ingredient in the popular anti-inflammatory spice turmeric. Scientists found that consuming 20 mg of piperine with 2 g of curcumin improved curcumin availability in humans by 2,000%.
Other studies have shown that black pepper can improve beta-carotene absorptiona compound found in vegetables and fruits that your body converts to vitamin A. Beta-carotene functions as a powerful antioxidant that can fight cell damage.
Research showed that taking 15 mg of beta-carotene with 5 mg of piperine significantly increased beta-carotene levels in the blood compared to taking beta-carotene alone.
Piperine and cancer
Black pepper may also have cancer-fighting properties. Test-tube studies found that piperine reduced the reproduction of breast, prostate Y colon cancer and encouraged cancer cells to die.
researchers compared 55 compounds of a variety of spices and found that piperine was the most effective in increasing the effectiveness of a typical treatment for triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive type of cancer.
Piperine also shows promising effects by minimizing multidrug resistance in cancer cells, potentially reducing the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
However, a word of caution. All of these things are quite uncertain, as most of the studies have been done in cell cultures or animals. And these kinds of experiments don’t always “translate” to humans.
However, you can be pretty sure that adding a little more ground pepper to your food is unlikely to do any harm, and may be beneficial.
Laura MorenoProfessor of Nutrition, Food and Health Sciences, teesside university
This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the Original article.
