Surprising Health Benefits of Chile Peppers and Red Fruit and Veggies

CHILI PEPPERS

Capsaicin, the pungent alkaloid in jalapeños and other chile peppers that makes them hot, not only puckers the mouth and burns the tongue but also drives prostate cancer cells to kill themselves off, according to studies published in the March 15 issue of Cancer Research.

According to a team of researchers from the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in collaboration with colleagues from UCLA, the pepper component caused human prostate cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death or apoptosis.

Capsaicin induced approximately 80 percent of prostate cancer cells growing in mice to follow the molecular pathways leading to apoptosis. Prostate cancer tumors treated with capsaicin were about one-fifth the size of tumors in non-treated mice.

"Capsaicin had a profound anti-proliferative effect on human prostate cancer cells in culture," said Sören Lehmann, M.D., Ph.D., visiting scientist at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the UCLA School of Medicine. "It also dramatically slowed the development of prostate tumors formed by those human cell lines grown in mouse models."

RED AND ORANGE FRUIT & VEGGIES

Did you know if you select fruit and veggies that are red or orange in color, they help your skin / body produce collagen?

BELL PEPPERS

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