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The Red Pepper

by Elizabeth M. Wardm M.S., R.D.

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WHY YOU NEED IT

» Red bell peppers supply nearly 20% of your daily need for alpha-tocopherol vitamin E. This potent antioxidant heads off cell damage by busting free radicals that roam throughout your bloodstream.

» Feeling sickly? Red bell peppers have more immune-boosting vitamin C than oranges and almost twice as much as their green cousins.

» The beta-carotene in red peppers provides the raw material your body needs to manufacture vitamin A. Raw peppers are good, but cooked ones are an even better source, since heat makes beta-carotene more available to your body.

» A compound called lycopene in red peppers gives them their brilliant hue. But it's also good for you-and one of the absolute best things you can eat to lower your chances of developing prostate cancer.

» Red bell peppers and hot peppers are members of the same family, with one major difference: Bell peppers have much lower levels of capsaicin, the compound that gives peppers their heat.

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