Capsicum

Capsicum and health benefits
Capsicum helps in curing many diseases that include lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol and warding off strokes and heart attacks, speeding up metabolism, treating colds and fevers, preventing cancer and pain control. Capsaicin is a flavorless, odorless chemical concentrated in the veins of chiles and peppers.
Capsicum and health benefits
Capsicum contains Vitamins A and C, and beta-carotene. It’s low in fat, calories and cholesterol. If you thought your diabetic diet was supposed to be boring, try spicing up your cuisine with capsaicin-based products, like hot sauce or jalapeno peppers.
Listed below are some of the health benefits of Capsicum:
* Enhances Metabolism: Capsicum increases the metabolism by lowering triglycerides, which are stored fats in blood corpuscles.This helps in burning calories.
* Anti Oxidant Property: Capsicum is an important source of vitamin A and vitamin C. These two vitamins are powerful antioxidants that help in fighting free radicals in the body and help in treating heart diseases, osteoarthritis, bronchial asthma, cataract etc. The free radicals are responsible for causing cellular damage, damage to nerves and blood vessels.
* Pain Relief: Scientists believe that the compound capsaicin found in capsicum blocks the transmission of pain from the skin to the spinal cord. This is considered helpful in treating neuralgia, pain associated with herpes zoster and postoperative amputation trauma.
* Cancer Prevention: The compound capsaicin is also believed to treat cancer by preventing carcinogens from binding with DNA. As a regular dietary intake, it has been found through various studies that eating capsicum can provide some protection from cancer.
* Prevents Clotting of Blood: Studies suggest that capsicum has the capacity to prevent clotting of blood. Vitamin C is found to play a major role in dissolving blood clots.
* Fights Food-Borne Bacterial Diseases: In a study it has been found that capsaicin content in capsicum is effective in fighting off food-borne bacterial diseases like Vibrio vulnificus bacteria found in raw shellfish.
Capsicum is a vegetable that comes in an exciting range of colors, like green, red and yellow. It is native to America and in fact, has been cultivated by the people of the tropical Americas since thousands of years. Known by a number of names, like chili pepper, bell pepper and red or green pepper, the vegetable is used as a spice, medicine and obviously, a vegetable. Apart from being great in taste, capsicum also holds a great degree of nutritional value and accords numerous health benefits to people. In the following lines, we have listed the nutrition benefits of eating capsicum.
Nutritional Value of Capsicum
    Carotenoids (Capsanthin, Capsorubin, Carotene and Lutein)
    Proteins
    Fats
    Vitamin A
    Vitamin C
    Capsaicinoid Oleoresin
    Provitamins E, P, B1, B2 and B3
    Steroidal Alkaloidal Glycosides (Solanine and Solasadine)
    Scopoletin (Coumarin)
Health & Nutrition Benefits of Eating Capsicum
    Beneficial to the mucous membranes, eyes and skin
    Helps wards off infection
    Promotes cardiovascular health, by helping lower blood pressure
    Has antioxidant properties that neutralize the free radicals responsible for damaging tissue and cells
    Has anti-inflammatory properties
    Helps reduce cholesterol and thus, is effective in warding off strokes and heart attacks
    Speeds up the metabolism and helps burn more calories
    Good for treating colds and fevers
    Stimulates stomach secretions and improves digestion
    Lowers triglycerides
    Has a laxative effect
    Triggers the release of endorphins
    Good for diabetics
Source: http://www.southdreamz.com/health-tips/capsicum-and-health-benefits/

Health benefits of capsicum

Capsicum has been cultivated for thousands of years now. Available in a variety of colours like red, yellow and green, it's also known as bell pepper, jalapeno and chilli. Rich in vitamins, it's an effective cure for many diseases. Along with the various medicinal properties, capsicum is also a great ingredient for some yummy recipes. Here are some of its health benefits:

Eyes and skin

Eating capsicum helps in keeping the skin clear, prevents rashes and pimples. It contains vitamin A, which is good for eyes and helps prevent eye diseases.

Cancer prevention

Capsicum contains compounds known as capsaicins that prevent carcinogen from binding with DNA and provide some protection from cancer.

Pain relief

Capsaicins also block the transmission of pain from the skin to the spinal cord and prevents the sensation of pain. It's helpful in treating pain-related diseases.

Burns calories

Eating capsicum speeds up the metabolism and helps burn more calories. It reduces weight gained due to a high fat diet. It also leads to the secretion of digestive juices and prevents indigestion. As a cardiovascular stimulant, it regulates blood pressure. and lowers cholesterol and triglyceride in the body.

Hair

Capsicum extract is one of the best hair growth boosting product. It prevents hairfall and helps you maintain thicker and fuller hair. But it's burning in nature, so be careful while using it.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-22/diet/28234956_1_eye-diseases-pain-relief-skin

Green, Yellow and Red Bell Peppers - What's the Difference?

Bell peppers are members of the Nightshade family of vegetables along with potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants. Like chili peppers, bell peppers originated in South America where seeds of a wild variety are believed to date back to 5,000 B.C. The various colored Bell Peppers all come from the same plant, but differ in their level of maturity:

GREEN PEPPERS

Green bell peppers are harvested before they are fully ripe, one reason they are less expensive than other varieties. Green bell peppers will continue to first turn yellow and then red if they are left on the plant to mature. They have a slightly bitter flavor and will never have the sweet taste of their red, yellow and orange counterparts.

ORANGE AND YELLOW PEPPERS

More mature than green bell peppers, yellow and orange peppers have a fruity taste but are not as commonly found in local markets as green and red bell peppers.

RED PEPPERS

These are more mature than green, orange or yellow bell peppers. They are rich in carotenoid phytonutrients and contain almost eleven times more beta-carotene than green bell peppers as well as one and a half times more vitamin C. Red Bell Peppers have a sweet, almost fruity taste. Pimento and paprika are both prepared from red bell peppers.

There are also other varieties that have a more tapered shape and do not have the lobes characteristic of the green, orange yellow and red varieties.

COMPARISON BETWEEN GREEN, RED AND YELLOW BELL PEPPERS

Nutrient	Green	Red	Yellow
Vitamin A	12% DV	105% DV	3.6% DV
Vitamin C	137% DV	292% DV	282% DV
Beta Carotene	340 mcg	841 mcg	110 mcg

What is the difference between red and green capsicum apart from the colour?

Red and Green Peppers (Capsicums) are exactly the same fruit of the capsicum plant, only the green is picked earlier and when the green matures it goes red, as with any mature fruit the longer it is on the plant the sweeter it gets and the longer it stays, the longer it has to pay rent to the farmer. Hence the higher price. If you can use both, use them, if you can't then dont, the red pepper adds great colour and taste as does the green, but dont break the bank for the sake of colour. If you can afford it use both, I have found that there is always a plentiful supply of fresh peppers at the grocery store, so only buy what you need when you need it.

From: Anonymous