Healthy Living in the High Country: Chili peppers: Are they too hot to handle?

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be in a five-alarm fire, try biting into a Habanero chili pepper, the Mexican gastronomic delight that is arguably the hottest available. It's a delight only if you know what to expect, which is another way of saying, don't try it unless you can deal with the resulting reddened eyes, sweating and choking sensation that inevitably results from a first encounter with one of the world's hottest peppers.

Chili peppers can be a healthy addition to your diet and can add a zest into sometimes bland low-fat foods without adding calories or cholesterol. They’re also loaded with vitamins A and C, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2) and niacin. They have been shown to improve metabolism, help digestion and break up congestion. And those are merely the nutritional benefits.

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Healthy Living in the High Country is a column written by ARHS cardiologist William Scarpa Jr., MD. For more information on Scarpa, call (828) 264-9664 or visit apprhs.org/heartcenter.

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