Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Capsaicin, the active compound in hot chili peppers, enhances the intestinal absorption of micronutrients like calcium, iron, and zinc by increasing intestinal permeability and absorptive surface area.
Consuming spicy foods may help your body absorb more minerals from your food. This is due to capsaicin improving how your intestines work. However, this effect is subtle and should not replace eating nutrient-dense foods.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Capsaicin helped by increasing permeability and absorptive surface of the intestinal wall thereby enhancing the absorption of micronutrients.
Why this rating
Based on cited animal studies (rats) within a review paper.
Source
The suitability of chili pepper (<i>Capsicum annuum</i> L.) for alleviating human micronutrient dietary deficiencies: A review
Tomi Lois Olatunji et al. · Food Science & Nutrition · 2018
DOI 10.1002/fsn3.790
narrative_reviewCited 186×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Incorporating chili peppers (Capsicum annuum) into the human diet provides significant amounts of vitamins A, C, and E, as well as minerals like iron and zinc, thereby serving as a sustainable strategy to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies.Moderate
- Chili peppers are more cost-efficient and land-efficient sources of iron and other micronutrients compared to cereals and legumes.Moderate
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