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Page 84
| Red Peppers |
| Help prevent eye problems |
| May reduce risk of heart disease and stroke |
| May help prevent cancer |
| Part of the capsicum family, which also includes pimento and chili peppers, red peppers are native to the Americas, and have been used for over five thousand years as an important food and medicine source. Modern nutritional science has been a little slow to catch up, butas is so often the casethere's now impressive evidence to confirm the Native Americans' wisdom. |
| Tops in Disease Protection |
| Among the very best antioxidant sources, red peppers offer an impressive arsenal of nutrients that prevent cancer and protect the heart. They're loaded with vitamin C; one pepper provides 150 percent of the RDA, which is far more than even an orange offers. And the average red pepper has 4,220 IUs of beta-carotenemore than 80 percent of the RDA. Both have been shown to fight the free radical cell damage that can lead to serious disease. |
| Red peppers are one of the few foods that contain lycopene, a carotenoid that may help to prevent certain kinds of cancer. Recent studies show that people with low levels of lycopene are at greater risk of developing cancers of the cervix, bladder, and pancreas. |
| Age Fighters |
| Together, vitamin C and beta-carotene provide a double dose of protection against the free radical |
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