Caribbean Food Emporium

Health Opinions about Peppers

http://aanp.net/Library/articles.lay/EK.stroke.html] "This remarkable culinary herb is a classic, and powerful, "alterative" which means that it regulates an imbalance which has gone awry in either direction. In this case, if your stroke is ischemic (due to a clot cutting off proper blood flow to the brain) the Cayenne will stimulate the return of blood to the cerebral tissues. If, on the other hand, your stroke is hemorrhagic (a bleed inside the skull), the Cayenne will act as a local styptic (staunching blood flow). The best way to take Cayenne for maximizing your circulatory power is a hearty pinch in a small glass of water first thing each morning. You may want to find a small jar with a lid to shake up this firy-hot and tasty little toast. Especially great on cold days; it will keep your feet and hands warm for hours."

[http://www.djherbs.com/cardiohealth.htm] "Capsicum increases circulation of blood to peripheral tissues, ensuring that nutrients are delivered to needy areas. Capsicum also supports blood flow."

[http://www.treelite.com/NaturesField/CAPSICUM.html] "The hot stimulating properties of this pepper make it useful in clearing mucus, eliminating headaches and circulating the blood. Capsicum seems to have an anti-inflammatory property and has also been found to protect the lung tissue. In this way it has shown to cut the recovery time of colds and flus in half when taken liberally in the early stages of these diseases."

[http://www.geocities.com/nutriflip/Naturopathy/Capsicum.html] "The dried fruit is a powerful local stimulant with no narcotic effect, it is most useful in atony of the intestines and stomach. It has proved efficacious in dilating blood vessels and thus relieving chronic congestion of people addicted to drink. It is sometimes used as a tonic and is said to be unequalled in warding off disease (probably due to the high vitamin C content)."

[http://cancer.med.upenn.edu/cancer_news/1994/hot_candy.html] "Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine have devised a candy, composed of hot chili peppers, to ease mouth pain in cancer patients. The taffy candy contains capsaicin -- the active ingredient in chili peppers -- to provide control of pain after repeated applications"

[http://www.viable-herbal.com/herbdesc/1capsicu.htm] "Long used as a food spice and an aid to digestion, red chilies or cayenne peppers were once thought to aggravate stomach ulcers. This fear has been discounted by researchers who became excited by studies that indicated that capsicum could help prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots. Now new research is focusing on this spices ability to act as an anti-inflammatory agent, and aid in controlling pain."

[http://www.healthcentral.com/peoplespharmacy/PharmFullText.cfm?id=31927] "Capsaicin is the ingredient that makes chile peppers taste hot. It is used in topical creams such as Capsin, Capzasin-P, Dolorac and Zostrix to treat arthritis and the pain that may follow an attack of shingles. Dermatologists have reported that applying capsaicin to the skin may reduce the redness and itch of psoriasis. Check with your doctor before using this approach."

[http://www.thenutritionreporter.com/hot_stuff.html] "

Doctors know that people suffering from osteoarthritis typically have elevated levels of decapeptide substance P (DSP) in their blood and in the synovial fluid that bathes their joints. DSP has two undesirable functions. First, it breaks down the cartilage cushions in joints, contributing to osteoarthritis. Second, it serves as a pain neurotransmitter in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. In other words, if you have a lot of DSP, you feel a lot pain. However, researchers have discovered that capsaicin - known to chemists as trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide - inhibits the activity of DSP. A cream containing capsaicin, rubbed on the skin, penetrates to arthritic joints, where it stops the destruction of cartilage, relieves pain, and increases flexibility."

[http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/deanfulltexttopics.cfm?id=44087] "Will eating spicy, hot food now burnout my taste buds when I'm older? .......No, because it is the pain fibers on the tongue, not the taste buds, that respond to spicy food. Some people claim that capsaicin, which is the main ingredient in a lot of spicy foods, relieves everything from arthritis, to migraines, to psoriasis. I think spice was originally used as a food preservative, because germs don't like spice. So spices were a means of keeping food bacteria-free. So far no evidence of damage from spicy food exists; it doesn't even aggravate ulcers as we used to think."

[http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sustainable/peet/profiles/c14peppe.html] "An antioxidant, chili is also useful in preserving food.......One sweet bell pepper weighing 74g has 15 calories, 6 percent RDA of Vitamin A and 150 percent RDA Vitamin C. If the green peppers ripen on the plant long enough to color, both Vitamin A and Vitamin C content increase. One teaspoon of dried red pepper has 26 percent RDA of Vitamin A"

[http://www.bagelhole.org/drafts/Capsicain.html] "A tea made of cayenne peppers works well to clear stuffy noses. It is painful but cayenne powder on a cut starts clotting pretty quick."

[http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/tcaw/00/may/dong.html] "Contrary to the common belief that spicy foods cause ulcers, studies have found no increased incidence of stomach ulcers in countries of high pepper consumption such as Brazil or Thailand. Because they interact with pain receptors and desensitize them through repeated contact, capsaicins are used in over-the-counter dermatological ointments (0.025%) for the relief of itchy skin, psoriasis, shingles, muscle aches, or pain from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. New salves for AIDS patients to alleviate leg pain are in development. Capsaicin also has a rich history in alternative medicine. Reported benefits include antimicrobial, anticoagulant, or anti-inflammatory properties and the ability to promote circulation or to relieve cold symptoms by clearing the sinus. Studies are under way to investigate whether capsaicin can increase the metabolism of body fat by raising metabolic rate and body temperature."

[http://www.ncmedicaljournal.com/Smith-OK.htm] "In Thailand, ingestion of capsicum is associated with increased fibrinolytic activity and hypocoagulability, resulting in higher antithrombin III and lower plasma fibrinogen levels. These may explain the lower incidence of thromboembolic disease in Thai people."

[http://www.confex.com/ift/99annual/abstracts/3738.htm] "Red pepper fruit were a better source of antioxidants than green fruit, due to greater contents of ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds, including capsaicinoids. Red fruit also had greater levels of total sugars than green fruit. As pepper consumption increases due to greater popularity of ethnic foods, peppers may provide notable amounts of antioxidants to the human diet"

[http://www.tagnet.org/abstracts/search/v5/n3/v5n31.htm] "Capsaicin, found in various hot peppers, has adverse effects on the peripheral nervous system. It also has adverse effects on several important centers in the brain, and on enzyme and neuroprotein function in the brain. Intestinal action on various nutrients, including protein, is altered to our injury. Furthermore, the blood vessels and heart are particularly sensitive to toxic factors in capsaicin. One dose of capsaicin is sufficient to destroy almost all substance P (an important nerve chemical related to endorphins) in the dorsal root ganglia of the nervous system, and causes about a 50 percent loss from part of the spinal cord. Loss of substance P may also lead to urinary retention, and because of the partial paralyzing effect on the bladder, is undoubtedly only part of why peppers irritate the bladder and prostate. Even low doses lead to low core body temperature (hypothermia), also due to a toxic influence on the brain. Capsaicin also interferes with glucose uptake, and at least one study suggests that it may cause cancer of the duodenum."

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It is believed that relief of PMS can come from the Endorphin release after eating chiles, although there is certainly the possibility of other factors coming into play. Aside from the documented physiological/psychological effects of endorphins, chiles are high in compounds known as Bioflavinoids.

These compounds are powerful anti-inflammitories. Bioflavinoids are also noted to help blood vessel walls strengthen and lessen bleeding. This could be another source of the relief. Chiles are also cited by nearly every homeopathic and home remedy book to be able to reduce inflammations. Chiles are believed by many peoples to achieve this effect through a normalising of blood pressures and blood flows in the body. Chiles are also noted to be relatively high in magnesium. Some time ago, bananas were touted as the ultimate cure for PMS when it was found that potassium helped to relieve the symptoms associated with PMS. Magnesium comes from the same family on the periodic table and could potentially mimic this effect. (My thanks to Jim Campbell of the Mild to Wild Pepper and Herb Co. who posted this to the Chile-Heads mailing list.)

... In its relation with the respiratory system, the chile pepper acts like an expectorant because it contributes to the elimination of the mucus and in this way, helps decongest the respiratory tracts. The Aztecs utilised it as a remedy for cough, in a thick atole with yellow chile and honey; if the cough persisted, they drank an infusion of salt and chile. The Tarahumara Indians still use it to remedy bronchitis and. throat irritations. It was noted (as per Dr. Irwen Zimet via Amal Naj - Peppers, A Story of Hot Pursuits), that an essentially synthetic version of Capsaicin, Guafenesein, is used in most modern cough syrups.

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