INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT PEPPER

I was surprised when I ran across this information about pepper. I like pepper and have always used it liberally and I guess that is a good thing. Perhaps it is why I am a 35+-year breast cancer survivor and have also survived colon cancer, who knows? Here are a couple of the surprising things I discovered about black pepper:

• Black pepper is a digestion aid. Black pepper stimulates the taste buds to signal the stomach to produce hydrocholoric acid. Hydrocholoric acid aids in digestion.
• Black pepper is antibacterial. No explanation needed there, we all know what antibacterial means.
• The outer layer of peppercorns contains piperine. Piperine is an alkoloid that increases the body's ability to assimilate cancer-fighting nutrients including beta-carotene, curcumin, and selenium. The National Cancer Institute says piperine also may have anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties.