What Happens if You Eat Jalapenos Everyday? [Pickled OK..]

Jalapenos are particularly spicy, especially the seeds, which can be unpleasant to eat for some.

Whereas, others have tolerance to spicy foods.

So, today I thought I’d explain what happens if you eat jalapenos everyday?

In this article I will provide a breakdown of the nutrients that you get from a typical serving of jalapenos, the benefits of eating jalapenos, whether pickled jalapenos are good for you, and how they compare to canned jalapenos.

What Are the Benefits of Eating Jalapenos?

Jalapenos together with other spices provide an interesting flavor that can really lift a dish that people otherwise might find a bit bland.

But, I was curious if there are any other benefits to eating jalapenos, and here’s what I found.

Various peer-reviewed studies, such as this one have shown that capsinoids currently are only known to be found in chili peppers.

Chilli peppers include capsicums, jalapenos, habanero chili’s, and peri-peri. And that capsinoid has the benefits listed above.

On top of these benefits, jalapenos also contain beneficial nutrients.

Those found in the highest amounts are:

• Sugars – 4% RDI
• Manganese – 4% RDI
• Vitamin C – 21% RDI
• Vitamin B-6 – 7% RDI
• Vitamin A – 4% RDI

RDI = Recommended daily intake.

These numbers are for 1 tablespoon (1 oz, 28g) of jalapenos which is a fairly normal portion for Western meals.

In cooking sometimes only the seeds are used, or the seeds are scraped out, and only the skin is used.

In general, the seeds provide the most spice and if eaten on their own create an extreme burning sensation unless a person has a particularly high tolerance to spices.

And dried chili powder generally contains the seeds as well as the flesh of chilies.

Here’s a table that shows the nutrients found in jalapenos as a percentage of the recommended daily intake:

Of particular note is the amount of vitamin C.

Which was part of the reason for Linus Pauling winning the Nobel Prize in Science for his work in showing that vitamin C is particularly effective at fighting the common cold, cancer, and various other diseases.

But, it is lacking in many nutrients.

This gives additional weight to the recommendation of nutritionists who recommend a varied and balanced diet.

The reason is that some vegetables and fruits are higher in some nutrients but lower in others.

And by eating a wide range of foods, on balance, you give your body a higher amount of nutrients overall.

Interestingly, it’s most common to find green jalapenos for sale in vegetable stores, and grocery stores but green jalapenos are not ripe.

If you try to grow jalapenos from the plants of green jalapenos they likely won’t grow.

It’s best to use seeds from jalapenos that have become ripe and turned red.

Here’s a quick video that shows how jalapenos grow, and how the taste differs based on the color of the jalapenos when harvested:

Pickled jalapenos are quite common, and are a great way to preserve them and change the flavor which many people like.

But, are jalapenos good for you, and are they as good for you as unpickled jalapenos?

When vegetables including jalapenos have been pickled a liquid is added.

This liquid is called brine and is typically a mixture of water, salt, sugar, and vinegar.

The amount of salt added varies based on the recipe.

Or, the pickled jalapenos you buy.

The recommended daily intake of sodium is 2.3g, which is equivalent to ½ a teaspoon.

A common amount of salt used to make brine is 2 tablespoons of salt per quart (1 liter) of water.

Not all of this salt gets into the jalapenos as they are pickled.

However, 2 tablespoons of salt are the same as 6 times the recommended daily intake of salt.

So, depending on the amount of salt you otherwise consume in your diet you may be getting too much salt.

Looking at some popular brands of pickled jalapenos it appears an average serving of 2 tablespoons of pickled jalapenos contains 10% of your recommended daily intake of salt.

This generally, shouldn’t be an issue depending on the amount of salt you consume in the rest of your diet.

But, to be aware of it you otherwise consume quite a bit of salt.

It’s common to find pickled and canned jalapenos in stores.

Pickled jalapenos are often canned (put into a vacuum-sealed jar).

So, are pickled and canned jalapenos the same?

Pickling is a way of preserving food by adding vinegar and salt.

Vinegar and salt are acidic and create an inhospitable environment for bacteria and mold.

Because of that, they don’t grow on the food, and foods that are pickled last a lot longer.

Canning or vacuum sealing food stops involves heating up the food to a very high temperature that kills any of the mold, and bacteria.

And seals it so no new bacteria or mold can enter the food.

This is done by heating it up very high, and as it cools it sucks the lid of the jar down making sure no air can get inside the food.

Therefore,

Healthy heart function is important as heart disease is one of the leading causes of death.

Jalapenos have a range of health benefits because they contain capsinoids

( In this article I cover the health benefits of pickled onions, and are pickled onions good for you?).

But, are jalapenos good for your heart?

Medical professionals say that vitamin K is particularly good for stopping blood clots which can affect the heart, and cause heart disease which is one of the leading causes of death.

A typical amount of jalapenos to use in a meal contains 3% of your recommended daily intake of vitamin K.

According to medical professionals the foods that are the best for healthy heart function are:

• Leafy green vegetables
• Whole grains
• Berries
• Avocados
• Fatty fish
• Walnuts
• Beans
• Dark Chocolate
• Tomatoes

Spicy foods that contain jalapenos are often fried in a lot of oil.

Fried foods are generally considered bad for heart health.

Therefore, if you’re cooking with jalapenos it’s best to only use a small amount of cooking oil.

Vegetable oil and olive oil are slightly different, and many people wonder how to store them, and if olive oil lasts longer than vegetable oil.

I answered these questions and more in this article about the differences between vegetable oil and olive oil.

Jalapenos can be quite delicious, and you may want to eat quite a lot of them.

So, I thought I’d cover whether it’s possible to eat too many jalapenos.

It’s a common joke that spicy foods ‘burn on the way out’.

So, this is generally something you’ll want to avoid.

But, provided you don’t consume more than about half a cup of jalapenos a day it won’t cause this effect alone.

However, if you consume other foods that are high in vitamin C such as oranges then you may be getting close to the limit where eating around half a cup can have a laxative effect.