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Black Pepper – Bridgeford’s Best Bites: Nutrition Tips

Black pepper is native to south India and is cultivated in other tropical regions. Vietnam is currently the world’s largest producer and exporter. Dried ground pepper has been used for its flavour and medical properties since antiquity. It is the world’s most traded spice and one of the most common spices added to European cuisine and its descendants. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine.

Folklore and Traditional Medicinal Uses in South Asia

Digestive problems: an appetizer, colic, constipation, diarrhoea, dyspepsia, flatulence, piles, to eradicate parasitic worms
Coughs and colds, sore and inflamed throats and hoarseness, toothache
Anemia, diabetes, heart problems, hepatitis, reproductive and urinary disorders
Combined with other remedies for cholera, syphilis
External application to boils, to treat hair loss and some skin diseases, to alleviate itching
As an aphrodisiac

Modern Science Shows

Anti-Oxidant / Anti-Inflammatory: Reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in rats. Extensive research revealed that obesity, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer, and other chronic diseases, is a pro-inflammatory disease.
Arthritis: May be useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Inhibits monosodium urate crystal-induced inflammation; a therapeutic treatment of acute gouty arthritis.
Blood pressure: Normalized blood pressure in rats; improved reactivity of aortic rings.
Cholesterol: Lowers blood lipids in vivo and inhibits cholesterol uptake in vitro. Reduces cholesterol uptake by internalizing the cholesterol transporter proteins.
Cancer: Potential agent for the prevention and treatment of various cancers, including colon, rectal, liver, lung, oesophagus, cervical, human breast; significantly reduced the androgen dependent and androgen independent tumour growth in mice with prostate cancer cells.
Diabetes / Metabolic Syndrome: Improved glucose tolerance in rats. Reduces symptoms of human metabolic syndrome in HCHF-fed rats by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.
Digestion: Increases microvilli length and perimeter in the gut, increasing the absorptive surface of the small intestine, providing increased bioavailability of micronutrients.
Immune: Immunomodulatory; can promote the maintenance of a healthy immune system.
Obesity: Potential treatment for obesity-related diseases.
Neuroprotective: It is protective of the nervous system
Parkinson’s: Depletes inflammatory markers in inflammation-induced Parkinson’s in rats.
Resveratrol: Enhanced the bioavailability of resveratrol, with its multitude of health-promoting properties.
Vitiligo: Stimulates melanocyte replication in vitro; may be useful in treating this depigmenting disease. The present study suggests that exposure to bright sunlight should be avoided both during active application of piperine to the skin and in the storage of piperine products.