Sacred Bliss

Black pepper is derived from the fruit of a climbing vine native to southern India and Sri Lanka. White pepper is likewise made from this fruit but is processed differently.

Used almost universally, black pepper is one of the most common condiments worldwide and figures prominently in most curry recipes. It is also frequently included in the prescriptions of Ayurvedic and other traditional health practitioners. The spicy tang of black pepper is due to its most important and well-researched phytochemical, piperine.

Thanks to many of its constituent compounds such as eugenol, kaempferol, myrcene, quercetin and rutin black pepper is a much more effective antioxidant than many fruit and vegetables.

Moreover it contains the unique compound, piperine, that is capable of enhancing the bioavailability of important nutritive compounds in other foods and spices.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF BLACK PEPPER

CANCER

By increasing the bioavailability of other anti-tumourigenic spices, black pepper dramatically increases their potency and effectiveness against cancer. In addition to this important property, black pepper also counteracts cancer development directly.

Its principal phytochemical, piperine, inhibits some of the pro-inflammatory cytokines that are produced by tumour cells. In so doing it interferes with the signalling mechanisms between cancer cells, thereby reducing the chances of tumour progression. Collectively, these properties make black pepper one of the most important spices for preventing cancer.

OXIDATIVE STRESS

Black pepper contains several powerful antioxidants and is thus one of the most important spices for preventing and curtailing oxidative stress. In addition to their direct antioxidant properties, several of these compounds work indirectly by enhancing the action of other antioxidants. This makes black pepper particularly valuable in minimising the damage caused by a diet rich in saturated fats, one of the main causes of oxidative stress.

The high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides associated with oxidative stress inhibit the efficacy of important antioxidants like glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, vitamin C and vitamin E. However, in the face of this potentially destructive process, black pepper actually maintains and enhances the levels and efficacy of these important antioxidant compounds.

IMMUNOMODULATION

Black pepper exhibits immunomodulatory properties and is capable of boosting the number and the efficacy of white cells, thereby assisting the body to mount a powerful defense against invading microbes and cancer cells.

BIOAVAILABILITY ENHANCEMENT

Piperine increases the bioavailability of valuable phytochemicals present in other spices and can boost the activity of biochemically active compounds contained in green tea, curcumin and a variety of other spices by up to several hundred percent, depending on the molecule concerned.

It does this via two principal mechanisms. Firstly, it promotes the rapid absorption of certain chemicals from the gastrointestinal tract, protecting them from being broken down by chemicals in the intestinal lumen and by enzymes that occur in the cells lining the intestines.

Secondly, once the compound has entered the blood stream, piperine provides protection against oxidative damage by liver enzymes. In this way black pepper enables us to reap optimum benefits from the medicinal phytochemicals found in other dietary spices.

Its bioavailability enhancing properties makes black pepper one of the most important spices. It should added to recipes and meals as often as possible as it boosts the medicinal value of many spices and other foods.

By: Keith Scott MD

Endometriosis And Black Pepper

As we mentioned in other articles, endometriosis grow somewhere else other than the endometrium also reacts to hormonal signals of the monthly menstrual cycle, building up tissue, breaking it, and eliminating it through the menstrual period. As we know pepper contains variety of nutrients that are important to women with endometriosis. In this article, we will discuss how black pepper effects women with endometriosis.

1. Immune system
Black pepper is an antioxidant, it has been used in traditional medicine in strengthening the immune system in fighting against inflammation caused by cell abnormality such as forming of endometrial implants and adhesion, tumors, cysts, etc.

2. Circulation system
Black pepper helps to increase the blood circulation in the blood thereby it increases the blood flow to the abdominal region resulting in lessening the tension of abdominal muscle.

3. Liver function
Black pepper is said to help the liver in protein and fat metabolism, thereby it helps to increase the production of bile that is essential for balancing the hormone in the prostaglandins family resulting in lessening the over active uterine muscle and period pain for women with endometriosis.

4. Digestive system
Black pepper containing piperine not only stimulates the action of the digestive system in absorbing of other vital nutrients such as vitamin B complex, selenium and beta carotene for our body need, it also helps to move the stool in the large intestine resulting in lessening the risk of constipation and menstrual pain.

Since endometriosis is treatable and manageable by natural remedies and a self help course, if you have endometroisis, please look at the bright side.

Black Pepper is fresh invigorating oil, good for calming and grounding. The use of black and white peppers goes back 4000 years in the East.

The Chinese used white pepper to treat malaria, cholera, dysentery, diarrhea and stomach complaints.

In Greece it was used for fever and stomach problems. Peppercorns were sometimes swallowed whole as a general body tonic.

Peppercorns grow on a woody vine and are the mature but unripe berries which change color from red to black in the sun, after they are picked.

Essential Oils are the volatile liquid ‘intelligence’ of the herb, tree, spice, flower, citrus, grass or resin from which they are derived.  Essential Oils communicate to the plant the information needed for survival.

Aromatherapy is a branch of Phytotherapy. It uses the whole plant in the form of tinctures, teas, and balms.