What is the Nutritional Value of Jalapenos?

The jalapeno is one of two official peppers of Texas, but you don't need to have a knack for Tex-Mex cooking to use the broad nutritious qualities of this food item. Although considered hot by many diners, jalapenos range between 3,500 and 8,000 on the Scovell scale of heat, which places this pepper near the bottom of the index. This low score makes it easy for those who don't require extreme heat from their peppers to benefit from the nutrients packed inside the green chili pepper.

An average jalapeno pepper weighing 14 grams will add just four calories to your diet. The jalapeno has a Completeness Score of 83 out of a top score of 100, and it supplies a high range of vitamins as well as significant levels of minerals and fiber, while at the same keeping fat, cholesterol and sodium at zero levels. Completeness Score is a measurement how much nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals a food contains.

Jalapenos are an excellent choice for a diabetic diet since their glycemic load score is just 2 out of 250. This score means that jalapenos have practically no effect on blood sugar levels.

The caloric breakdown of jalapenos is 72 percent carbohydrates, 17 percent fats and 11 percent proteins. The breakdown of the .9 g of carbohydrates found in a single jalapeno is .4 g of dietary fiber and .5 g of sugars. The total fat content of a jalapeno is just .1 g and features no saturated fats. Jalapenos contain 2.1 mg of omega-3 fatty acids.

Jalapenos contain trace amounts of many vitamins and larger levels of others. Among the most abundant vitamins in jalapenos are 112 IU of vitamin A, 6.2 mg of vitamin C, 1.4 mcg of vitamin K and 6.6 mcg of folate. According to the American Dietetic Association, vitamin A can improve night vision, vitamin C assists in the formation of the body's connective tissue, vitamin K causes blood to clot so that you don't bleed to death and folate plays a role in the formation of both RNA and DNA when cells develop.

The leading mineral present in jalapenos is potassium, with 30.1 mg. Smaller amounts of other minerals, such as 1.4 mg of calcium, 2.7 mg of magnesium and 4.3 mg of phosphorus, are also available in a single jalapeno. Calcium and phosphorus are both essential for effective bone maintenance and magnesium and potassium both work to prevent hypertension.