The Reputation of Cayenne Pepper Just Keeps on Growing!
Even medical researchers are starting to admit that there is something special about cayenne pepper in spite of it being just an inexpensive natural anti-inflammatory spice.
How to take cayenne pepper?
The best way to take cayenne pepper is a teaspoonful in a cup of hot water – but be warned! To start off, use just a quarter of a teaspoon and gradually build up to a full teaspoon as you get used to it.
If you really find it difficult to take anything hot and spicy, the good news is that you can buy cayenne pepper capsules from health stores at a reasonable price. Swallowed with your glass of water, they will slip down to your stomach with no hot rush.
What is all the fuss about cayenne pepper?
What can it do for you and me?
There are so many different health benefits that I am going to list 10 here today and then list a further 10 in a second instalment when you have had time to absorb this first list!
1. Anti-allergen properties – cayenne pepper helps to reduce allergic symptoms by its anti-inflammatory properties that desensitize the nasal passages when exposed to allergens and assist in breaking-up and loosening mucus formation.
2. Anti-bacterial properties – cayenne pepper has been used traditionally for years to prevent food contamination from bacteria.
3. Anti-cold and flu agent – cayenne pepper will help to break up congested mucus in colds and flu and get it moving, giving instant relief from many of the symptoms of colds and flu. Alternatively, add some slippery elm and molasses or honey to your cup of hot water and cayenne pepper and take in doses throughout the day for colds, sore throats and coughs.
4. Anti-fungal properties – studies have indicated the pepper prevents fungal pathogens forming.
5. Anti-inflammatory properties – cayenne pepper has been found to be a great help for arthritis, diabetes, psoriasis and even nerve damage caused by herpes. A special mention here for arthritis and other joint pain sufferers is that cayenne pepper is very high in capsaicin. By a strange twist because the cayenne pepper causes temporary pain on the skin with its heat, chemical messages are sent from that skin to the joint. This then offers joint pain relief. For topical joint pain relief, use cayenne pepper as a paste with honey.
6. Anti-irritant properties – cayenne pepper had been used to ease such irritations as stomach upsets, ulcers, sore throats and coughs.
7. Improving heart health – cayenne pepper helps to reduce atherosclerosis (which is a disease in which plaque builds up inside your arteries) while encouraging fibrinolytic activity (the ability of some proteolytic enzymes to dissolve the fibrin in blood clots facilitating wound healing) and preventing the formation of blood clots. But there is more! At the same time, cayenne pepper helps to normalize blood pressure levels while ridding the body of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. This is all good news for reducing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke.
8. Assisting with digestion – cayenne pepper will stimulate the digestive tract so that enzymes and gastric juices keep flowing, helping our body to metabolize both the food and the toxins that we ingest. And you know that intestinal gas and bloating you can so easily suffer from? Well, cayenne pepper stimulates intestinal peristaltic motion to help with both assimilation and elimination.
9. A great detox agent – cayenne pepper causes us to sweat, a natural process for detoxing our systems. Combine that teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a cup of hot water with some lemon juice and honey for an every day detox beverage.
10. An appetite stimulant – cayenne pepper stimulates the flow of saliva, encouraging poor eaters or those with eating disorders to have a healthier attitude towards eating.
Vital advice below
This is so useful if you are ever in the position of being with someone who is perhaps having a heart attack. Dr John Christopher was a renowned natural herbalist and, during his long career, he always maintained that if you could get a person who was suffering from a heart attack to swallow a glass of warm water with that teaspoon of cayenne pepper, it would bring the patient out of the heart attack.
Sources
Arnold, J. T., et al. (2016). Oral capsaicin ingestion: A brief update — dose, tolerance, and side effects.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315718068_Oral_Capsaicin_Ingestion_A_Brief_Update_-_Dose_Tolerance_and_Side-Effects
Basith, S., et al. (2016). Harnessing the therapeutic potential of capsaicin and its analogues in pain and other diseases.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6272969/
Burri, B. J. (2014). Beta-cryptoxanthin as a source of vitamin A.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.6942
Choe, J. W., et al. (2017). Foods inducing typical gastroesophageal reflux disease symptoms in Korea.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5503285/
Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.