The benefits and harms of black pepper, properties, calories

One of the most popular spices on the planet was born in India, on the Malabar Islands. Until the burning spice took its modest place in the field of cooking, small peas served as a monetary unit, and a measure of weight, and even the level of prestige. Few people know, but black pepper, the harm and benefits of which we will consider today, is successfully used in medicine and cosmetology, and even helps to lose weight!

Product Description

The familiar black peas are the unripe fruits of a tree-like pepper liana growing in warm latitudes. The berries get the usual dark color already during the drying period, and it is in this form that the product becomes suitable as a spice - even in whole, even in ground form. By the way, white pepper found on sale - it would seem, the exact opposite of black pepper - is a fruit from the same vine, only undergoing several intermediate stages of processing in the form of two-week soaking in a special solution.

Fragrant seasoning may lose its properties if stored improperly. Since fresh air entering the container with spice also refers to adverse conditions, it is not recommended to buy a lot of pepper for future use, and if you make small reserves, then in the form of whole grains that are less susceptible to external factors. Grinding peas is best immediately before use, and there is a rule - the larger and coarser the grinding, the more fragrant and sharp the seasoning. Many culinary specialists or people who practice the use of pepper for medicinal purposes do not use the mill at all, but grind or grind the spice in a mortar.

By the way, the weight of chopped seasoning is easy to determine using a simple teaspoon - exactly 5 grams of a spicy granular substance is contained in one spoon.

Composition of black pepper

Ground black pepper, the harm and benefit of which we consider in this material, is a product that stands at a high level of nutritional and energy value. However, due to the small amount of seasoning that enters the human body with food, there is no need to talk about the serious value of the substance in life support processes.

Calorie content of ground black pepper (100 grams) is 250 kcal. Having decomposed this indicator into the ratio of BZHU, we obtain the following table:

In addition, per 100 g of product: 12.7 g of water, 25.5 g of fiber, 4.7 g of ash. The vitamin composition of ground black pepper includes at least six types of B vitamins, carotenoids (A), ascorbic acid (C), phylloquinone (K), tocopherols and tocotrienols (E). List of trace elements contained in the product: sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, fluorine, iron, copper, selenium.

Comparative characteristics of peppermint fruit

According to the results of research, it turned out that the fruits of pepper lianas have the same culinary characteristics, regardless of their appearance, therefore, the theme of the benefits and harms of black pepper in the diet by default can serve as a description of white grains, and pink, and green. However, when using pepper for medicinal purposes, a slight difference in the quantitative content of resins and essential oils can be decisive, so you should not look for an alternative to the type of grains indicated in the instructions or deviate from the recipe proportions.

Piperin alkaloid is responsible for the special, specific taste properties of black pepper , which also provides the burning ability of a long leguminous product and is a part of all, without exception, fruits of plants of the “pepper” class.

What is Piperine

Alkaloid piperine is located in the outer shell of pepper grain, that is, the black pea familiar to everyone, devoid of the skin, will not have the expected sharpness and healing properties. It is the substance piperine, released in the form of crystalline granules, that forms the harm and benefits of ground black pepper. The characteristic features of this element affect the digestive system, irritating it and stimulating.

Piperine is often used behind the scenes in dietary supplements designed to restore the normal functioning of the intestinal tract, strengthen the immune system, and cleanse the body in a complex of antiparasitic drugs. In proportions of 10 to 20 mg per day, piperine is taken in combination with basic anti-stress therapy.

You need to understand that this substance cannot be opposed to diseases in its independent form, and in addition, it has a number of contraindications for various injuries of the gastric mucosa, pregnancy and lactation.

Black pepper in cooking

The use of spices in the cooking process has its own rules, adhering to which it is easy to achieve maximum disclosure of the taste of spices. So, when cooking the first dishes, as well as sauces and vegetable stews, a pinch of black pepper is laid in the dish at the last stage of its preparation. Using breading when frying meat or fish fillet in portions, the spice is added directly to flour or breadcrumbs. When cooking any minced meat, it is better to introduce pepper into the crushed mass at the same time as salt - at the initial stage of mixing the ingredients.

Ground black pepper is indispensable in the preparation of meat dishes, but few know that some classic confectionery products - for example, ordinary gingerbread cookies - also include a small amount of hot seasoning in the recipe. As already mentioned, it is advisable to grind peas to obtain an aromatic bulk spice immediately before use, and to ensure that the product containers are air and moisture resistant during storage.

The benefits of pepper in medicine

During heat treatment, some useful properties that stipulate the benefits of ground black pepper are lost or reduce their effectiveness. Therefore, speaking of decisive therapeutic measures, they do not mean the usual use of spices in the form of seasoning for boiling broths, but the addition of powder to warm or cold aqueous, milk or alcohol solutions. If we are talking about prevention (for example, colds or stomach upsets in the current satisfactory condition of the body), then the preparation of individual products is not necessary - just sprinkle with ground pepper an already prepared and slightly cooled dish.

So specifically, what is the use of ground black pepper? Here is an incomplete list of problems that can be eliminated by regularly introducing spice into the diet:

• indigestion associated with difficulty making gastric juice;
• the accumulation of toxins and the deterioration of the liver, unable to cope with their withdrawal;
• obesity occurring against the background of metabolic disorders;
• colds;
• dermatitis and other skin lesions (including skin cancer);
• nervous disorders, frequent stresses, depressive states.

Particular attention was paid to the properties of black pepper in the study of menopausal syndrome in women after 45 years. It turns out that seasoning successfully stabilizes the hormonal background during a sharp decline in estrogen production, which leads to the formation of a more stable state of the nervous system.

Harm from black pepper

The so-called individual intolerance or allergy to black pepper is often a simple accumulation of a substance in the body, which happens when you are addicted to spicy foods. Such a glut is expressed by the product of heartburn, constipation, and cutting in the epigastric region of the stomach. If such manifestations arose for the first time, you should temporarily abandon the use of pepper in food and observe the reaction of the body.

Absolute contraindications to the use of spices are:

• inflammatory condition of the genitourinary system;
• syndrome of "acute abdomen";
• violation of the psyche, psychosis, excessive mental agitation;
• the presence of stones in the bile ducts;
• surgery of the nasopharynx over the past month.

A relative contraindication is the period of pregnancy and lactation, when pepper is allowed to be taken in small quantities in the composition of ready-made dishes. To prevent irritation of the gastric tissues with existing problems with the digestive system, this product should be used with fatty foods or undergo heat treatment.

Traditional medicine recipes

Using a spice for treatment, it should be borne in mind that when using black ground pepper, the harm caused by the product can significantly outweigh the expected benefits. Therefore, it is forbidden to introduce a burning seasoning in the regimen of the main therapeutic treatment without the consent of a doctor when it comes to elderly patients, children, pregnant women or people at risk for absolute contraindications.

Practical recipes from traditional medicine using black spice:

• From cough. 1/5 teaspoon of black pepper powder is added to water heated to 30 ^° C (200 ml), stirred and allowed to drink to the patient before eating. You need to drink the medicine 3-5 days twice a day.
• General strengthening elixir. A third of a teaspoon ground seasoning, 1 tbsp. spoon: dried hypericum, dry wormwood, linden honey and 0.5 teaspoon tea leaves mix and pour 500 ml of vodka. Insist liquid, shaking occasionally, for three months in a dark, cool place. Then drink 0.5 tbsp. spoon three times a day after meals for 10-15 days.

To use black ground pepper purchased in store packaging and having a shelf life of more than six months as a medical raw material is a waste of time and health. Such a product is able to slightly improve the palatability of food, but for medicinal purposes it does not have any benefit.

Black pepper for weight loss

In order to get rid of excess weight, the spice is used both internally and for external use. Immediately make a reservation that it is impossible to get rid of sagging skin that occurs when losing weight or cellulite, simply smeared with pepper mixture. A mass of 1 teaspoon ground seasoning and 1 tbsp. tablespoons of honey are applied by rubbing movements for an additional outflow of toxins coming out with sweat, and stimulating blood circulation only after active sports and before taking a warm shower.

For internal cleansing of the body and additional lipid breakdown, 2 grams of pepper are diluted in 0.5 liters of warm water and this amount of liquid is divided into three doses during the day. Take a "talker" must be strictly after eating.