March’s ingredient is: bell pepper!
Discovered by Columbus in the West Indies, bell peppers or capsicum are a very tasty and nutritious ingredient for snacks and main meals. They are available year round and grow in multiple countries around the world, making them an easy go-to for a healthy addition to your diet.
Bell peppers contain almost double the daily value of Vitamin C. This vitamin is crucial to help repair the damage done to the adrenal glands during times of high or chronic stress. It is also necessary to create norepinephrine (a neurotransmitter created by the adrenal glands) which helps us to feel alert, energetic and improves our concentration. A deficiency of norepinephrine, which is associated with low vitamin C intake in the diet, is exhibited by fatigue, low mood and impaired thinking, concentration and memory.
More than 50% of your daily value of Vitamin A can be obtained eating one serving of bell peppers. Vitamin A is obtained as a beta-carotene from fruits and vegetables. Ensuring a healthy level of Vitamin A in your diet helps protect against declining memory and cognitive functioning as well as a decline in learning new skills which often precedes Alzheimer’s disease. Diets low in Vitamin A can result in insomnia, chronic fatigue and depression.
Bell peppers are also a good source of Vitamin B6 which is vital for healthy nerve functioning, improvements in irritability and low mood. Research has identified a strong connection between people who are depressed and a Vitamin B6 deficiency, indicating that this deficiency plays a role in causing or maintaining depressive symptoms.
Similarly, diets low in folate have been connected to increasing symptoms of depression. Folate can be found in moderate quantities in bell peppers as well.
Whether you eat them raw with a dip or cooked in a curry, bell peppers are an essential element to a diet that strengthens mental health.