IMO black pepper is a condiment/spice, and definately could not be classed as a food. When used in varying quantities, it adds flavour and also brings out differnt flavours. When I don't use soya sauce, I grind my own black pepper and you don't really need very much.

I don't remember reading it anywhere here, but does pepper have the same negatives as salt, you know, hardened arteries/hypertension???

Black pepper is in my opinion most definitley classed as a food, anything with nutrient content is by definition classed as food.

Black peppper has many benefits especially in increasing the absorption, utilization and uptake of many nutrients and healthy anti-cancer compounds such as those found in turmeric. This is why i don't suscribe to the natural hygeine theory of if we can't mono eat it in large amounts then dont use it. Why would you want to miss out on the amazing benefits many of these spices have shown in studies especially when it comes to cancer. They flavour, only small amounts are needed and they provide some decent nutrition also.

To the poster who quoted me i never said dried meant that it was a living food. But i did state that just because you dry something doesn't mean you lose the nutrient content completely. Some dried powders are very nutrient dense.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/26/2012 11:21PM by powerlifer.

They are spices not food, you could not mono eat them until you are full. Red pepper has a lot of nutrients but you could not mono eat it.

I love how we are redefining the actual English language on this website, always gives me a laugh.

food
Noun:
Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb, in order to maintain life and growth.
Synonyms:
nourishment - fare - nutriment - aliment - pabulum

Pepper certainly falls under this category. Nowhere is food defined as only that which can be eaten on it's own until one is full. That wouldn't make very much sense, since everyone has differing tastes and tolerances.

coco your definition actually proves that red pepper is not a food, you could not maintain life and growth on eating red pepper alone, it is not a food. If you had red pepper left in your fridge, you would agree you have no food to maintain life.

Agree to disagree. I think that things you CAN EAT qualify as FOOD but you are welcome to think otherwise.

The natural hygiene folks got it right otherwise we could qualify a piece of dirty wood as food it has nutrients too. It is a food when our entire body can participate with excitement and joy in the eating experience until one is full. Our fiends in the wild know that by instinct.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2012 04:08AM by RawPracticalist.

we left this thread some time ago. My suggestion is not to let trollio resurrect it.

Hmmm well I get both perspectives, but I'm going to stick with the spice def. On the other hand, could a starving person pound the pepper until it's disolvable powder, mix it with water, drink it to sustain life until more appropriate 'FOOD' is found???

Now, if that could be done, then I guess I'd have to change my view, as it can then be classified as food.

Well, if I were stuck on a deserted island that had only one kind of plant on it, I would rather than plant be forest of papaya trees rather than a field of black pepper plants!

You could not maintain your life eating many foods that doesn't make them not foods now lol.

If i was on a desert and their was a choice between a veggie burger tree with all the condiments and trimmings i would probably go for that. Analogy's like this don't add up, fact is that these spices have nutrient content and thus nourish the body.

They are classed as spices or herbs but again that doesn't detract from the above. Some of these dried spices in the amounts they should be consumed i.e teaspoons have an impressive nutrient content.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

1 teaspoon of black pepper has more iron than a cup of broccoli. This is just one example but even excluding whether they are food or not, why would you want to miss out on the many benefits these spices and herbs have to offer, well studied to back up.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Maybe the body does not need that much iron to begin with otherwise nature would have put it in the food we eat or are supposed to eat. Do we have cases of people that actually got "cured" by these spices?

So higher iron foods such as spinach we should discard also ?. None of this theory makes sense. Yes there are many studies for showing the benefits of various spices on helping cure, treat and exibit propertes in both human and animal studies.

When it comes to black pepper the most studies probably beings its ability to increase the utilizlation, uptake and assimilation of various nutrients such as selenium. Or anti-cancer compounds found in turmeric root.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

madinah Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
Do we have
> cases of people that actually got "cured" by these
> spices?




I volunteer. As a chronic border line anemic I'd rather take a tsp of black pepper in my daily diet than a supplement. I'll let you know how it goes, thanks Powerlifer .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2012 03:07PM by coco.

I can see the usefulness of the spices in extreme cases of disease, or to restore a situation quickly but I do not see how they maybe needed on a regular basis. Powerlifer you are actually proving why we do not need them for their superior iron because some of the food we eat have as much or more iron, so I guess they may be good helping with nutrient assimilation but we have many foods that do that already.

The iron was only an example of how a dried "spice" could rival other common healthy foods we have to eat in larger amounts. We should be focusing on preventative medicine, this in my opinion includes liberal use of various spices and herbs. I use them for their flavours but at the same time i know i am getting various essential oils, nutrients, phyto-chemicals and other compounds which support and nourish my body, act as antioxidants, anti-tumor etc etc.

What is the reason why not ?. I fully understand some people find cayenne and the hot spices irritating and omitting them is wise. But what about green herbs such as sage or spices such as cumin and cinnamon. All of these have documented health benefits just in the same way fruit and vegetables do.

For me it is like eating a healthy diet and not doing exercise, why not include a healthy ratio of everything.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

"For every disease we know, G_d allows an herb to grow."

Why in the world would I ignore the gifts of the natural world? Might as well cut off the nose to spite the face. How idiotic.

I've lost my argument haven't I. This troll has re-activated a dorment thread and we've taken the bait. I don't care about whether pepper is a "food" or a "nutrient"... it can improve taste and absorption of turmeric. It's something that can and for me will be taken. Even if it is not a food, it's a nutrient... So the original argument doesn't matter... let's not let trollio achieve his goalio... though he have may already declared victory.

Paul

btw. I'm coming back under "Paul" or "Paul B" ... I can't take Pborst... some people can't or won't learn my name.... but it's still me.

Paul

p.s. and I will no longer post or respond under pborst.

Can't the mod just change your user name Paul? That seems technologically simple to me but what do I know... I still think things like herbs, berries, seeds etc are foods. LOL.

Prana,

Coco has raised a valid question... Can you change my name to Paul or PaulB? Let me know.

Paul "B"

This what God actually said in Ezekiel 47:12 "Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing"
We have that already, geens, green juices, green smoothies, and fruit for food.
2000 years ago, the anwser was provided. The question is coming late.

Pepper corns are a berry, they are a fruit.
People wrote that book, BTW, in case you were wondering about it's validity as an accurate source of instructions. LMAO.
By G_d I mean Mother Nature, just for the sake of clarity.

The if you can't it mono don't eat it at all, is a terribly restrictive way of looking at things. The way they look at as a food as just a raw bunch of nutrients which if consumed is all that is needed for health.

What they don't realize is that the many health preventative and healing benefits these people get are from the unique phyto-chemicals and compounds each fruit, vegetable or plant contains. No difference to herbs just the dosage for many.

If a natural hygienist can explain why a fruit or vegetable doesn't posess medicinal value then ill listen. I mean sometimes its the very same phyto-nutrient that will give the herb and the fruit or vegetable their same benefits because of the colour of the plant has similar antioxidant polyphenols etc etc. But one is a harsh toxic medicine and the other a yummy food. Yes some herbs are toxic but the common ones used most certainly aren't especially at the responsible dosages.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2012 05:57PM by powerlifer.

it has been said that black pepper improves digestion.
how? by increasing HCl.

if you want to eat pepper because the food you're eating isn't good enough by itself, or for whatever reason, then go ahead!

but to go through all these tortured justifications

quoting studies -
pepper has "nutrients"
it "improves digestion"

really, you would go out and eat peppercorns in a field?

i know, Natural Eating, how absurd !

who says you need more HCl?
what foods are you eating that need more HCl?
could you eat foods that do not need increased HCl?
Why do you presume to know that you need X nutrients or Y amounts of them?
what damage may be occurring as a result of the ingestion of black pepper?
why are you eating something that requires black pepper to improve it?

these questions appear to be irrelevant

why?

because stimulation is fun

because we want to control our bodies
add in our "scientific" opinions for nutrients and "food benefits"
and "medicines"
(isn't needing "medicines" an indication that you're doing something wrong?)

all of this complicated stuff is unnecessary.

but that would leave us with
nothing to talk about

no one to impress

nothing to do

except eat that boring, primitive, CRAZY diet of raw whole foods

No it achieves its increased nutrient absorption through a compound it contains called piperine. Although many of these spices help aid digestion which in 99% of cases is never a bad thing to get as much as possible from your food.

Black pepper has very little to do with HCL like i say. Piperine is the compound which has shown the absorption benefits.

I don't really care for the nature analogy, in nature we wouldn't be sitting on laptops posting on forums and everything else we do. We have evolved, using nature is great but a mixture of science has to come into play somewhere.

There is nothing complicated about seasoning your food with aromatic flavoursome herbs and spices if you are wishing to even look at this away from the medicine healing point of view.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Isn't it funny that the people who think it's just fine to eat something are only saying that it's ok to do so, not trying to push it on anyone else

BUT

the ones who don't want to eat it themselves seems so very concerned about telling those who do how wrong they are, how bad it is for them, how unnatural, unnecessary, complicated, stimulating, controlling, etc.

Interesting.

The reaon people come to the forum is for the how and why of things and I think Powerlifer is explaining things although I do not agree on some.

I don't think coco was meaning me madinah ?. I have always gone with the philosphy of each to everyones own, whilst one thing may work for one it may not for another. Hearing both sides of everything is always good and i try to always use some form of science to back up scenerios.

Work out your own path from there.

[ww.vegankingdom.co.uk]

Coco, Powerlifer, you are making good points, the spices help, stimulate digestion and nutrients secretion, have higer concentration of iron and other things. The question that remain to be anwered is when will the depency on the spices or herb stop or is it a forever help they provide.
My point is that the food that is appealing already may have these things and the extra effort of picking herbs may not be necessary.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2012 09:48PM by madinah.