Sweet bell peppers and spicy red peppers add zest and color to your dishes -- but that's not all. Red bell peppers are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Whether you like red bell peppers roasted, peeled or steamed, you are sure to get a nutrient-packed meal when you eat the red peppers. Other bell peppers, such as the green and orange versions, offer a large supply of vitamins too, but you just may benefit more from eating red bell peppers.
Beta-Carotene
Bell peppers contain beta-carotene, an important nutrient for eye and heart health. They provide about half the body's needs of vitamin A, an essential nutrient nicknamed "the eye vitamin" because of its crucial role it plays in eye health. Bell peppers contain about 5 mg of beta-carotene per cup. The cooking process destroys some of the beta-carotene in bell peppers, according to "The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods" by Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno. Cook bell peppers in olive oil until tender-crisp. This maximizes bioavailability of beta-carotene.
Vitamin C
Other than citrus fruits, bell peppers are one of the food sources rich in vitamin C. In fact, one cup of red bell peppers contains 133 mg of vitamin C, which is 51 mg more than you would get in a cup of fresh orange juice. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that plays a role in skin, bone and eye health. The combined antioxidants power of beta-carotene and vitamin C in red bell peppers may help prevent cataracts and macular degeneration. The National Eye Institute created a vitamin formula for macular degeneration called the Age-Related Eye Disease Study Formula, or AREDS. This formula contains vitamin C and beta-carotene.
Lutein
Red bell peppers contain lutein, which is an important phytochemical for eye health. It may also play a role in the prevention of certain forms of cancer. A 2007 study published in "Nutrition and Cancer" suggests that lutein may protect against the proliferation of prostate carcinoma cells. One cup of this vegetable contains about 319 mcg of lutein. Currently, there is no dietary reference intake for lutein, but you can be sure that you are getting a tremendous amount of lutein in red bell peppers, according to "Fight Back with Food," from the Reader's Digest Association.
Capsaicin
Red bell peppers contain capsaicin, which is often found in red- or orange-colored vegetables. It has shown to kill cancer cells. According to a study published in the February 2004 edition of "Cancer Research," capsaicin may kill leukemic cells. Red chili peppers contain an enormous amount of capsaicin, but sweet, red bell peppers are high in this beneficial compound.
References
- "The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods"; Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno; 2005
- National Eye Institute: The AREDS Formulation and Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- "Nutrition and Cancer"; Lycopene and lutein inhibit proliferation in rat prostate carcinoma cells; Gunasekera RS, Sewgobind K, et al.; 2007
- "Fight Back with Food"; Reader's Digest Association; 2002
- "Cancer Research"; Induction of Apoptosis in Leukemic Cells by Homovanillic Acid Derivative, Capsaicin, through Oxidative Stress; Keisuke and Tomonori Nakazato; February 2004
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