4 Healthy Eating Tips for Spicy Food Fans

When we talk about spicy foods such as pepper jelly, we often get into the debate of whether foods that make us feel like our mouths are on fire are even good for us to be eating.

It’s the reason that spicy food connoisseurs will find themselves getting into discussions about healthy eating tips surrounding hot peppers, pepper jelly, and the like.

And while it’s important to eat all foods in moderate, healthy ways, to us, as well as the scientific community, spicy foods actually are good for you! That’s despite the fact that they may or may not make your face all red and hot.

We’ve written elsewhere on the Grandma Jones’ Pepper Jelly blog about the health benefits of peppers, so we don’t need to rehash that.

But despite the science around peppers and other spicy foods, there seems to remain a misconception that any food that makes your mouth and throat burn must be bad for you.

What we’d like to do is to get more specific about the ways you can incorporate healthy spicy food into your diet, and so you don’t have to deal with that spicy burn so much!

What Makes Healthy Spicy Food Good to Begin With?

We’ll say one thing about the peppers that appear in all of our Pepper Jelly products, and this isn’t a secret: hot peppers contain a compound called capsaicin, which makes you feel the burn when you eat peppers.

Capsaicin, though, is actually extremely good for you, despite all that pain!

Its anti-inflammatory qualities are used in medication to relieve pain, and when you eat peppers, your metabolism could increase, thereby burning through fat faster, and your appetite may decrease.

Maybe you knew all this about hot peppers, and maybe you didn’t.

The point is that you can rest assured that spicy foods such as peppers are indeed quite good for you.

So if you’re brave enough to handle the hotness of our Habanero Pepper Jelly, for instance, you know you’re doing a good thing.

Still, we don’t want any of our fans or new customers to be put off by the hotness of our delicious pepper jelly (yes, we’re a bit biased toward it), so we wanted to make this little healthy diet tips guide for adding spicy foods to your diet in a manageable way, where you can enjoy all the benefits of capsaicin-infused food while taking in the heat little by little.

How Do I Train Myself to Eat Spicy Food?

Before we get to the spicy healthy diet tips, we want to make sure you know how to introduce yourself to spicy foods at all.

We’ve already established that spicy food can be good for you, but if you’re not used to eating it, the burning sensation in your mouth after you take a few bites can be overwhelming. We therefore recommend that you train yourself slowly to get into spicy foods.

How can you do it the right way? There is a straightforward step-by-step process you can follow for training yourself into the habit of spicy food:

• Take baby steps - if you’re not used to spicy foods, then you might not want to dive right into something hot all at once. Instead, add our Jalapeno Pepper Jelly as a glaze to something that can counteract it, such as chicken or fish or a burger.
• Slowly introduce more spice - as with anything, you can build a tolerance to spicy foods over time. Take those baby steps, and then slowly add more and more spice to your diet. It may take weeks or months, but if you hold to a schedule, you may find you can handle more heat than you used to!
• Be prepared with cooling foods - you hear about all kinds of cooling foods to eat alongside your spicy foods in case things get too hot to handle, and we support that if you need it! Foods like milk, sour cream, and anything sugary can do the trick here.
• Maintain your habits over time - as long as you’re slowly building your tolerance over time and are at a point where you’re truly enjoying spicy foods where you once didn’t, then you’re doing things right. Keep up your habits over time, and you can officially consider yourself a spicy food fan!

What Are Some Healthy Spicy Food Eating Tips?

Now that you know that the capsaicin in hot peppers is healthy, and you know how to introduce it to your diet, what are some practical healthy eating tips for all you spicy fans out there?

First of all, make sure you talk to your doctor before changing your diet in any meaningful way.

But here are some general ways you can make spicy foods such as our Pepper Jelly part of your everyday diet.

Add in spicy food when you want to lose weight

As we said above, capsaicin suppresses the appetite and could help you to lose weight, since you won’t still be hungry after eating it. So, if you want to lose weight and already like spicy foods, you may want to add in some Pepper Jelly to your weekly diet!

Hot peppers could raise your good cholesterol

There is some evidence that regular capsaicin consumption could raise the HDL, or good cholesterol, in your body. We say again: check with your doctor.

Peppers can boost your metabolism

Other evidence on the capsaicin in hot peppers has shown that it can boost your metabolism, helping you to burn more calories and therefore lose weight if that is your health goal.

Enjoy every spicy food in moderation

As with all foods, enjoy our Pepper Jelly and all other spicy foods in moderation, especially if you’re still getting used to the hotness of it all. There’s a right way to get into the wonderful world of spice, and for you, it may just involve introducing it slowly.

Want to Add a Healthy Food to Your Diet? Try Our Pepper Jelly

If you’re ready to get into the healthiness of hot peppers while also enjoying a delicious sweet and spicy snack, we’d love to introduce you to Grandma Jones’ Pepper Jelly!

With so many varieties to choose from, we know you’ll find one you can enjoy and incorporate into your daily life.

If you’re looking to add spicy foods into your diet in a healthy way, try some pepper jelly!