Ingredient FAQ: Pepper
Published: February 7, 2023
Updated: April 19, 2023
Kyla’s recipes are full of delicious ingredients that have lots of health benefits! We’ll highlight some of them in blog posts so you can learn more about how they affect your nutrition. This post is about a very common seasoning – black pepper. You don’t usually add a lot of it to your food, but it’s worth including for its health benefits!
The Basics
Black pepper is made by grinding black peppercorns. Black peppercorns are dried fruit from the Piper nigrum vine and can come in different-colored varieties. Black pepper has a sharp flavor and can season pretty much anything!
Nutrition Profile
When you eat black pepper, you probably are only eating a dash of it at a time. A teaspoon of ground black pepper contains just under 24 calories.1 It is low in most other nutrients. However, it contains the compound piperine, which has strong antioxidant properties and provides several health benefits.2
Is Black Pepper Healthy?
Black pepper is a very healthy spice! Eating it can protect your cells from damage, improve nutrient absorption, and improve digestion. It stimulates your stomach to release enzymes that help digest fat and carbohydrates, so it can be especially beneficial for people with digestive issues and diarrhea.2
Eating turmeric with black pepper provides extra health benefits. Turmeric on its own is contains curcumin, a compound with powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. When you eat black pepper and turmeric together, the black pepper helps your body absorb more curcumin, increasing the health benefits you get from turmeric!3
Who Shouldn’t Eat Black Pepper?
It is very safe for most people to eat black pepper. In normal amounts (a few shakes from a pepper shaker), black pepper poses no major health risks and causes no side effects. However, eating a lot of black pepper (a few teaspoons or more) may cause indigestion and a burning sensation in your throat and/or stomach. People who have a pepper allergy should avoid eating black pepper.
Uses and Alternatives
Black pepper has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years.4 Now it is most commonly used to add flavor to meat, vegetables, sauces, soups, and more! Many people keep salt and pepper together on their kitchen table. If you’re trying to eat less salt, one way to break the habit is to use lime or lemon juice in combination with black pepper instead.
Different colored peppercorns work well as substitutes for black pepper. Ground white and pink peppercorns have a similar flavor to ground black peppercorns. A mix of ground white pepper and cayenne pepper also makes a good substitute for black pepper. If you are allergic to pepper, ground papaya seeds and ground coriander seeds are good alternatives. Although papaya is sweet, the seeds have a similar flavor to black peppercorns and are also high in antioxidants!5
Summary
Black pepper is more than just a compliment to salt – it is a delicious, high-antioxidant spice! It has properties that protect your cells and help improve digestion. There are no major health risks to eating black pepper – as long as you don’t eat too much of it – so add some to your favorite savory dishes!
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References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture. Spices, pepper, black. FoodData central. Published April 1, 2019. Accessed April 19, 2023. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170931/nutrients
- Butt MS, Pasha I, Sultan MT, Randhawa MA, Saeed F, Ahmed W. Black pepper and health claims: a comprehensive treatise. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2013;53(9):875-886. doi:10.1080/10408398.2011.571799
- Gupta SC, Patchva S, Aggarwal BB. Therapeutic roles of curcumin: lessons learned from clinical trials. AAPS J. 2013;15(1):195-218. doi:10.1208/s12248-012-9432-8
- A review on therapeutic potential of Piper nigrum L. (Black Pepper): the king of spices. Med Aromat Plants. 2014;3(3). doi:10.4172/2167-0412.1000161
- Ajmera R. Can you eat papaya seeds? Healthline. Published April 21, 2020. Accessed April 19, 2023. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/papaya-seeds