Author: Zlatna Nedeva
For the past year, we have been challenged to pay more attention to our inner selves, but we’ve also had to reconsider our living spaces. All that time spent at home made millennials and generation Z’s pick up a new hobby – growing plants. Looking after house plants is not a new concept but in recent months its popularity has been growing exponentially. Like most people, we turn to social media for proof. Hashtags such as #plantsofinstagram #plantsmakepeoplehappy and #plantstagram have been used on almost 20 million posts. Besides bringing us closer to nature, growing plants improves our mood and helps us deal with negative thoughts. And since there are a lot of practical people, they chose vegetables or herbs as their “house pets”.
Hot peppers may not be the most popular home plants, but they are a beautiful addition to your interior design while at the same time a food ingredient with plenty of healthy benefits. The wide variety in sizes, colours and degrees of spiciness makes them a great choice. From white and pale yellow to red and almost black fruits, they cover quite a lot of aesthetics preferences. There are all sorts of shapes and textures. Growing rare and interesting chillies varieties is actually quite new to our country – the first chilli farm was open only 9 years ago. There is one more chilli farm in Bulgaria completely dedicated to the cultivation of different varieties of hot peppers. A brand that offers different chilli seedlings is Chilli Hills and you can find them in Kapana.
Why choose hot peppers, though? They are not just attractive looking plants, they are very healthy plants. Actually what makes peppers hot and differentiates them from other peppers is the high content of capsaicin. This is the compound that brings numerous health benefits to consumers. It is widely used in medicine to treat a number of different muscle, joint or ligament aches. In addition, hot peppers are rich in antioxidants that relieve various stomach conditions. Until recently, it was thought that spicy foods could cause ulcers, but new studies have shown that capsaicin in moderation provides protection against the ulcer pathogen H. Pylori, which is responsible for a number of other inflammations of the gastrointestinal tract. Another good reason to grow hot peppers is the fact they relieve migraines. Everyone with this problem knows how important it is to have an effective painkiller in reach. There are many research studies showing that treating migraines with intranasal capsaicin provides total relief. Hot spice is also known to reduce cholesterol, blood sugar levels and triglycerides. Capsaicin is also effective in reducing platelet aggregation, which often results in fatal blood clots. A lot of research shows that the hot ingredient in peppers is an effective means of reducing the risk of various types of cancer. Capsaicin has been shown to slow down and kill cancer cells by altering the expression of several genes that help them survive and metastasize.
Whether you are looking for a new addition to your house plants collection or you are just starting out, hot peppers seedlings seem like a jolly good solution to all torments you might have.