Chili peppers have been a go-to in recipes for kicking things up a notch. But in tea? It has some surprising health perks! Here are some recipes and news to help you reap the benefits!
The best way to enjoy these benefits? Chili, of course! Check out some recipes here.
Thylehogichi Tea– Or, How to Fight a Nasty Cold
Adapted from Delicious Days
You might have never heard of Thylehogichi. It’s a clever “word” for THYme LEmon HOney GInger CHIli tea, using the ingredient’s first letters. All its ingredients have a bounty of positive effects on a sore throat (antiseptic, alleviate throat tickle, soothe feeling of throat dryness). Sounds like medicine. Doesn’t taste even close.
Prep time: 15 minutes. Yields 2 glasses.
Ingredients
- 500 ml water
- fresh lemon juice (1/2 – 1 lemon)
- fresh ginger
- fresh thyme sprigs
- fresh red chili (optional!)
- honey
- serve with slices of lemon and small sprigs of thyme
Method
- Thoroughly wash ingredients, cut the ginger into thin slices (peeled, unpeeled, that’s up to you), halve and squeeze out the lemon and cut off a few slices of the chili (optional). Amounts are really subject of personal preference, for 500 ml water use 8-10 sprigs of thyme, 6 rather large slices of ginger, the juice of 1 lemon and 2 slices of chili)
- Bring half a liter of water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a minimum and add the ginger slices, the thyme sprigs and chili slices. Let infuse for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the drinking glasses/tea cups – add some (1-2 tsp, I prefer more) honey to each as well as the lemon juice.
- Pour tea through a fine mesh sieve into the glasses and serve hot with thin lemon slices and/or small thyme sprigs.
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Make Cayenne Pepper Tea to Boost Immunity
Adapted from WikiHow.com
Cayenne is a spicy tasting herb that is orange or red. People sprinkle it onto their food and incorporate it into recipes to add some heat and flavor to dishes. Cayenne also has healing properties, and herbalists have been using it for years to build immunity, fight off colds, soothe ulcers, and help detoxify the body. Make a cayenne pepper tea with water, lemon, a generous helping of cayenne, and any additional ingredients that will help you achieve your health goals.
Method
- Measure 1 tsp. (4.9 ml) of cayenne pepper and place it in a mug. Use less cayenne and work your way up to 1 teaspoon if the full amount is too strong or too hot. If you have not used cayenne on a regular basis, you might find a full teaspoon difficult.
- Pour hot water over the cayenne. Try to use water that has almost reached the boiling point.
- Stir the cayenne and the water until it is dissolved. You will notice flakes of the cayenne pepper floating in the water, which is fine.
- Add the juice from half a lemon to the cup. Stir the lemon juice into the tea.
- Let the tea cool for 1 or 2 minutes before sipping. Once it has cooled to the point that you can hold the mug without burning your hands, it is ready to drink. People who drink it in the morning find they have more energy and a faster metabolism throughout the day. Some people drink it before a workout for an additional energy boost.
Add other ingredients if you desire. Some people put fresh, peeled ginger in the bottom of the mug and allow it to steep in the hot water before adding the cayenne and the lemon. Ginger can help eliminate harmful bacteria in your body. Try adding molasses or Stevia if you want to sweeten your tea without sugar or sugar substitutes.
Chili Burn—Can Green Tea and Chili Pepper Burn Fat?
One product advertised widely in Canada is Chili Burn from the manufacturer New Nordic (www.newnordicshop.ca). The ad makes the following claim: The product increases the amount of calories your body uses in a day, without any needed dietary changes or added exercises. As your body burns and wastes more calories, you steadily but surely lose weight.
But is it supported by good science? According to the manufacturer’s website, Chili Burn tablets contain:
- green tea leaves 486 mg
- dill 150 mg
- ginger root 50 mg
- chili pepper 12 mg
- peppermint 4.50 mg
So it’s the green tea, right?
Green tea contains a number of biologically active ingredients called catechins, which are believed (though not established) to have beneficial effects on weight, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, cancer and other illnesses. There is about 70-100mg of catechins in each gram of tea, and this varies by tea variety and processing effects. (Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is thought to be the most active cachetin; New Nordic claims Chili Burn contains 145mg EGCG per tablet.)
Phung et al, recently published a systematic review which stated, “Effect of green tea catechins with or without caffeine on anthromopometric measures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Since green tea naturally contains caffeine, and caffeine is also believed to have some effects on weight, it’s thought the combination of green tea plus additional caffeine may have additional effects. The authors searched the medical literature for all trials that studied green tea (with or without caffeine), were randomized, and measured at least one of: body mass index (BMI), body weight, waist circumference, or waist-to-hip ratio.
In the pooled analyses, the results were:
- Green tea plus caffeine reduced BMI slightly (0.55), body weight (-1.38kg) and waist circumference (-1.93cm), when compared to caffeine alone. All were statistically significantly, but hardly relevant. Green tea plus caffeine also reduced body weight (-0.44kg) compared to green tea without additional caffeine.
- Green tea without additional caffeine showed no benefit.
New Nordic Chili Burn contains green tea, but no additional caffeine. Based on the systematic review, one can conclude there is no persuasive evidence to support the use of green tea as a weight loss product. What about the 12mg chili pepper? And the 150mg of dill? There was no credible evidence to demonstrate it had any meaningful effect on weight. The same thing went for both ginger and peppermint.
The bottom line? With respect to the ingredients in Chili Burn, is there’s no persuasive published evidence to demonstrate that they will have any meaningful effects on weight, either alone or in combination.
