As part of our Curious New Mexico project, UNM student Sophie Wickert wanted to know if chile seeds could be bad for your stomach.
Reporters Tomås Moya and Julian Chavez talked to some local chile and health experts about the health effects of the local vegetable who said there seems to be far more health benefits than health risks.
Local chile sellers told us that chile is one of the healthiest vegetables on earth. In fact, one chile contains eight times more Vitamin C than one orange.
Chile also contains “capsaicin,” the heat agent inside all chiles. In recent studies, including one at UCLA, capsaicin has shown to be a possible killer of prostate cancer cells, leading to the conclusion that eating a lot of chile can help prevent this cancer.
That study made a strong impression on Ken Deweese, owner of Chile Traditions.
“They inject the cancerous tumors with the capsaicin,” DeWeese said. “The cancerous tumors that they inject the capsaicin into are actually killed and destroying themselves.”
