Black Pepper - 100gm

Black Pepper is called king of spices because this spice is not only taste enhancer but it is a metabolic and digestion power booster also. It helps in digestion of food well within time, so that the formation of extra gas in not there. This spice promotes your intestinal health. One of the best carminitive spice, that stops formation of intestinal gas.

Black pepper the king of spices, used as money in ancient history. Not only because it improves the taste of food but it has lot of health benefits also. Black pepper is being produced largely in India and Indonesia. 

You can remember very well that people, in history of India, whenever used to make heavy or food rich in oil etc. they used to mix pepper or pepper powder in it. They used to put pepper in Malpua (a north India sweet) and in Medhu vada, Pongal and Rasam ( all south Indian preparations), so that this spice can help in digesting all these tasty foods. And as this spice breaks down the protein and other food components, body can absorb all nutrients from the food properly. Through out the world people use this black pepper in salads , fruits, bread toasts, juices and buttermilk etc.

Benefits 

Health Benefits of Black Pepper:

1. Improves Digestion: Black pepper is considered one of the best spice to improve your digestion power. Piperine in black pepper eases digestion and stimulates the stomach, which then secretes more hydrochloric acid that helps to digest proteins in food. So a bit of pepper in food will actually help you to digest it faster.We will try to elaborate this again - This spice stimulates your taste buds, and sends signals to your mind to start secretion of more hydrochloric acid into stomach. This hydrochloric acid generated in our body helps digestion of proteins and other food components in the stomach properly and effectively. If hydrochloric acid is insufficient in the stomach, food may sit in the stomach for an extended period of time, leading to heartburn or indigestion, or it may pass into the intestines, where it can be used as a food source for unfriendly gut bacteria, whose activities produce gas, irritation, and/or diarrhea or constipation. 

2. Removes Gas from intestine: Black pepper has long been recognized as a carminitive, (a substance that helps prevent the formation of intestinal gas), a property likely due to its beneficial effect of stimulating hydrochloric acid production. It discourages intestinal gas from forming, and as a bonus, the outer layer of the peppercorn aids in the break-down of fat cells. It warms the body so it promotes sweating, which helps rid the body of toxins. In addition, black pepper has diaphoretic (promotes sweating), and diuretic(promotes urination) properties.

3. Respiratory issues, cold and cough: Pepper also provides relief from sinusitis and nasal congestion. It has an expectorant property that helps to break up the mucus and phlegm depositions in the respiratory tract and its natural irritant quality helps you to expel these loosened materials through the act of sneezing or coughing, which eliminates the material from the body and helps you recover from whatever infection or illness that caused the deposition in the first place.

4. Thyroid : Piperine in black pepper, increases the body’s ability to absorb betacarotenes, selenium and B-vitamins (which in black pepper means pyridoxine, riboflavin, thiamin and niacin), as well as other nutrients from food. There is selenium in many foods like chia seeds, brazil nuts, sesame seeds , flax seeds and in lot of vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and spinach. Piperine helps absorption of this selenium effectively. This selenium is very important chemical to maintain good thyroid health.

5. Anti bacterial and immunity booster: Many studies suggest that  black pepper contains not only anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and fever-reducing actions, but immune system-enhancing properties as well. The antibacterial property of black pepper helps to fight against infections and insect bites. Pepper added to the diet helps to keep your arteries clean by acting in a similar way to fiber and scraping excess cholesterol from the walls, thereby helping to reduce atherosclerosis, the condition highly responsible for heart attacks and strokes.

6. Enables weight loss: Black pepper is brilliant when it comes to extracting nutrients from food. And it's outermost layer contains phytonutrients, which helps to break down fat cells  and also increases metabolism. Therefore, peppery foods are a good way to help you shed weight naturally. When fat cells are broken down into their component parts, they are easily processed by the body and applied to other healthier processes and enzymatic reactions, rather than settling in your body and making you look overweight. If you eat fresh pepper, and begin to perspire, that's the pepper helping your body to get rid of excess water and toxins. 

7. Peptic Ulcers: A number of studies have shown that black pepper may have beneficial effects on gastric mucosal damage and peptic ulcers, due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

 Dosage

Store it well.

To take maximum advantage of the benefits of black pepper, it's important that you store in the best way possible. It's recommended that you buy whole peppercorn and crush it at home. This not only makes sure that the spice retains its flavour, but also that it lasts longer. Store it in an airtight glass container, and always in a cool, dry, and dark place.