One of the highest vitamin C foods there is — red has roughly double green.
Bell peppers contain more vitamin C than citrus by weight. A single red pepper covers
several times the daily requirement.
Colour is ripeness, not variety. Green peppers are
unripe; leave them on the plant and they turn yellow, then orange, then red. As they ripen the
vitamin C roughly doubles and the beta-carotene rises about eight-fold. Red peppers are
sweeter for the same reason.
They are also very low in calories and mostly water,
which makes them one of the more efficient vegetables on the plate.
Per 100g red pepper. Green peppers are roughly half the vitamin C and a fraction of the vitamin A.
Based on the nutrients and fibre this food supplies. These are supporting foods, not treatments.
Buy red if you can. Double the vitamin C, far more carotene, and sweeter.
Green is cheaper because it is picked early.
Vitamin C degrades with
heat. Raw or lightly cooked keeps more of it. Roasting is delicious but costs you
some.
Eat them with iron-rich food — peppers alongside dal or
spinach substantially increases iron absorption.
Roasting and peeling
removes the skin some people find hard to digest.
Vitamin C's most practical role here is iron absorption. It converts plant iron into a form
the gut takes up several times more readily, and the effect is dose-dependent within normal
food amounts.
The carotenoid jump on ripening is why colour matters. Beta-carotene and
capsanthin accumulate as chlorophyll breaks down — the pepper is not just changing
colour, it is changing composition.
Kidney disease: potassium may need limiting. Ask your doctor for your
numbers.
IBS: several vegetables are high-FODMAP and commonly trigger
symptoms — tolerance is personal.
This is information, not a prescription. If you are managing a diagnosed condition or taking medication, talk to your doctor before making a large change to your diet.
Nutrition figures on this page come from standard food composition data. These links let you check the numbers and read the underlying research yourself rather than taking our word for it.