I’ve mentioned before now about the strange things that Italians believe in and how funny I find it.

I was in the process of writing a crap post but, at lunchtime, I was given the opportunity to write about something else.

A colleague, who originates from the South of Italy was asking another colleague about whether the chilli pepper (that he and a lot of Southern Italians sprinkle on most of their food) was bad for you. He was informed that it was not bad for you but black pepper was.

I couldn’t help but laugh. But, I was told that the doctors say this. “Which doctors? Where?”, I asked.

“All doctors, everywhere”, came the reply. I was astounded. I was certain that doctor’s in the UK did not say this and, in fact, that there were health benefits to using black pepper and said so.

“Yes, but you drive on the left”, came one person’s comment – said in jest, I have to add.

However, I had to check. I do know many Italians (including F) who dislike black pepper here. But this was the first time that I had heard of it being bad for your health.

A check on Google both for the health benefits and the possible harm of black pepper confirmed what I thought – although it MAY irritate your stomach, it is (they say) good for your digestive system. Obviously, eating it by the spoonful wouldn’t be advisable but, overall, as I suspected, there is simply nothing wrong with black pepper.

Of course, I am unable to compete with the ‘doctors say’ line from an Italian and have to admit defeat on this one. I will never be able to convince her that she is simply wrong and listening to old wives tales.

What I want to know is, where the hell do they get their ideas from? Anyone know?