Long Red Hot Chili Pepper And Pepper Health Benefits

Long pepper, or Indian long pepper as it is better known, is basically a flowering vine. The pepper is the fruit of this vine that is consumed raw or cooked, pickled, or dried and used in spices and seasonings. It is also used as a preservative in foods. Long chili pepper has a pungent pepper-like taste that increases the production of saliva and causes numbness in the mouth. Long red peppers not only play an important role in Eastern cuisines, but are also being increasingly used in Western cuisines as well due to their pungent taste and myriad health benefits.

The cultivation of long pepper is mostly done in low-lying areas.

The plants are cultivated on a large scale and the essential prerequisites are heavy rainfall and relative humidity. Long pepper is found in many forms such as long chili pepper, long red peppers and long green peppers.

Health Benefits Of Pepper:

Medicinal Uses: Long peppers have numerous medicinal benefits and have always played an important role in traditional schools of medicine, including Ayurveda and Unani medicine. This fruit is extensively used to cure ailments of the respiratory tract such as bronchitis, asthma, and cough. It is also an important ingredient in balms that are used to soothe muscular problems.

Health Benefits: Long pepper is used as a nerve depressant and also has antagonistic effects on electro-shock and chemo-shock seizures for muscular spasms. Long pepper also has antibacterial properties in addition to having tonic, stimulant, analgesic and carminative properties. One of the other major health benefits of long pepper is that it helps in increasing the appetite. It also helps in driving out gas from intestines. Problems such as stomach aches and tumors can also be cured with the help of long pepper. In many countries, a concoction made of long pepper root is used after birth to induce the eviction of the placenta.

Other Uses: Not only does long pepper have many health benefits, it is also useful in a number of other ways. Long pepper is the key ingredient in many pepper spray products as a self defense mechanism. The main advantage that long peppers have over other traditional fruits is that they are simple to use, versatile, affordable, and have instantaneous effects.

It is a good idea to include a little bit of long pepper, be it long chili pepper, long red peppers, or long green peppers into your diet. Not only do these peppers add flavor to the food but they also ensure that you will stay healthy and fit.

What Is Long Pepper?

Long pepper can be described as a spice that belongs to the “Piper Longum” genus and species. The fruit or the berry that grows on the long pepper vine is used as a spice by people all over the world. For centuries now, people in the Mediterranean region, India, Africa and Indonesia have been using this spice, not just because of its taste, but also for the various long pepper benefits that they are aware of. In taste, the long pepper fruit is said to be quite similar to black pepper. However, most people consider long pepper stronger and hotter. There are two different types of long pepper available, though quite similar in shape. The Indonesian variety however is longer and probably slightly more pungent than the Indian variety. There are different forms of these long peppers too, which could include long chili peppers, green long pepper and red long pepper.

Long Pepper Benefits

There are several different long pepper berry benefits that people have known for centuries now. Given below are some of the most common long pepper benefits:

• Expelling the mucus that has collected in the respiratory tract
• Strengthening the nervous system and at the same time improving the condition of the gastrointestinal tract
• Normalizing peristaltic movement
• Serving as a good agent for digestion
• Healing several skin related problems, as in aiding in the healing of a wound when applied in the form of an oil
• Suppressing pain and reducing inflammation in several parts of the body
• Toning up the urinary tract and at the same time maintaining normalcy in the digestive tract
• Getting rid of hiccups, when mixed with honey

Long Pepper Medicinal Use

There are several health problems and conditions too that can be controlled, treated and perhaps even cured with this spice. People who are aware of what the medicinal value of long pepper is also use the spice as a home remedy to cure different ailments. Given below are some of the medicinal benefits of long pepper:

• Treating respiratory problems, some of which include asthma, bronchitis and chronic cough
• Controlling and managing the symptoms of several conditions like malaria, diarrhea, piles, pain in the abdomen, indigestion, cholera, tongue paralysis, hyperacidity, flatulence and anorexia
• Curing insomnia
• Managing the symptoms of hemiplegia and sciatica

In spite of all the long pepper benefits that have been mentioned above, it is important for people to check with a doctor before adding this spice to their daily diets or even before using it as a home remedy. This is all the more important for people who are elderly or are suffering from any preexisting medical condition.

Submitted on January 16, 2014