Have you ever had some spicy Thai or Mexican food? Your eyes water and nose starts running but you can’t stop eating because it’s just so good. Well, it turns out that the heat from those peppers is actually good for you. The active ingredient in chili peppers is Capsaicin, it can be found in the entire family of spicy fruit. Chili peppers are a South American fruit that grows from plants in the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family. The family of spices includes but are not limited to the tabasco peppers, serrano peppers, habaneros, scotch bonnet, jalepenos and the topic of this post the ‘Cayenne’ pepper.
Cayenne Pepper Health Benefits
Photo via Tim Patterson -Flickr
The cayenne pepper is one of the most common spices used in American cuisine, yet few people know the great potential it holds for medicinal use. When you eat something containing cayenne pepper the burning sensation you get is from the capsaicin and the heat of the pepper is rated in terms of scoville units. Cayenne has a scoville rating of 30,000-50,000 units and is extremely hot in comparison to a jalepeno that only rates at 3,000-8,000 units.
Once in the body capsaicin “binds to a protein known as TRPV1 that resides on the membranes of pain and heat sensing neurons” the neurons are in turn overwhelmed by the heat of the capsaicin. As a result the neurons become depleted of the key neurotransmitter responsible for the detection of pain. Cayenne pepper is also known to increase circulation through out the body allowing for more blood flow to injuries for faster healing.
Capsaicin is indicated as interacting with a number of drugs, including the commonly prescribed high-blood pressure drug Lisinopril, to induce a side-effect cough. – Wikipedia
With a firm understanding of how cayenne behaves within the human body, researchers have uncovered a plethora of effective medicinal uses for cayenne pepper. Below is a list of the many uses for this family of miracle fruit.
Cayenne (capsaicin active ingredient) can be found as a healing substance in these forms:
- In skin ointments for muscle aches and pain
- In topical creams for psoriasis and other skin inflammations
- When taken after a meal it aids in the breakdown of carbohydrates for better digestion
- It regulates blood sugar levels (diabetes)
- Cayenne pepper has been shown to stop heart attacks if administered orally within minutes of an onset
- Several studies in Japan and China shows that capsaicin directly inhibits the growth of leukemic cells (cancer)
- Capsaicin has been shown to cause prostate cancer cells to shrink to 1/5 of their size in lab tests (mouse trials)
- It can treat hair loss by increasing blood flow to damaged body parts, in the case of hair follicles it can spur new growth
- The heat from capsaicin boost the metabolism to aid in weight loss
- Cayenne pepper can be placed on a wound to stop bleeding
For those of you that can’t handle the heat or taste of cayenne, it can be purchased at your local health food store in pill form. Leave a comment to let us know of ways you’ve used cayenne pepper for healing.
You can follow me here: @KevinMinott
