| | Sample of my www.xanga.com/druglesshealthdoc site:
  
If I was stuck on a deserted island and had the choice of only one herb - this is the one I would chose. What is the first thing you think of when you hear ceyenne or chili peppers? HOT right? Ok - you are right and wrong. They are spicy and warm to the pallet but they are a very cool pepper and extremely healing. During the pregnancy with my first 2 kids I had very high blood pressure in the last 6 weeks, resulting in total bedrest. When I got pregnant with my last child I decided that bedrest was for the birds and to nip this high blood pressure in the bud before it started. So, I went on a search for a natural remedy. Lo and behold I found out about Cayenne Pepper. Not once during this last pregnancy did I have any blood pressure issues.
From Wikipedia:
Named for the city of Cayenne in French Guiana, it is a cultivar of Capsicum annuum related to bell peppers, jalapeños, and others. The capsicum genus is in the nightshade family (Solanaceae).
The fruits are generally dried and ground, or pulped and baked into cakes, which are then ground and sifted to make the powder, Cayenne pepper. Cayenne is used in cooking spicy hot dishes, as a powder or in its whole form (such as in Szechuan cuisine) or in a thin, vinegar-based sauce. It is generally rated at 40,000 to 90,000 Scoville Units. It is also used as a herbal supplement, and was mentioned by Nicholas Culpeper in his Complete Herbal.
Medicinal Purpose
The potent, hot fruit of cayenne has been used as medicine for centuries. It has endorphin-stimulating properties.[citation needed]
In addition, it has been used for the following problems:
- Gastrointestinal tract: including stomachaches, cramping pains, and gas.
- Diseases of the circulatory system: It is still traditionally used in herbal medicine as a circulatory tonic.
- Rheumatic and arthritic pains: Rubbed on the skin it causes a counterirritant effect. A counterirritant is something which causes irritation to the area to which it is applied. This makes it distract the nerves from the original irritation (such as joint pain in the case of arthritis).
- Sore throat: If gargled with water it can work as an effective treatment for sore throats.
- Styptic: Application of cayenne powder has traditionally been considered to have a powerful coagulating ability.
Active components
Cayenne contains a pungent resin-like substance known as capsaicin. This chemical relieves pain and itching by affecting sensory nerves. Capsaicin temporarily causes various neurotransmitters to release from these nerves, leading to their depletion. Without the neurotransmitters, pain signals can no longer be sent. The effect is temporary.
Capsaicin and other constituents in cayenne have been shown to have several other actions, including reducing platelet stickiness and acting as antioxidants.
From: http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/cayenne.htm
Today cayenne is used worldwide to treat a variety of health conditions, including poor circulation, weak digestion, heart disease, chronic pain, sore throats, headaches and toothache.
Ayurveda also utilizes cayenne to treat poor digestion and gas. Chinese medicine uses cayenne for digestive ailments.
When taken internally, cayenne soothes the digestive tract and stimulates the flow of stomach secretions and saliva. These secretions contain substances which help digest food.
Cayenne is the greatest herbal aid to circulation and can be used on a regular basis. Dr. Richard Schulze, the medical herbalist, says that "If you master only one herb in your life, master cayenne pepper. It is more powerful than any other."
Cayenne moves blood
There is no other herb which increases your blood flow faster than cayenne. Cayenne moves blood. When people ask Dr. Schultze, "What are the 10 most important herbs to have in the home?" He tells them, "At the top of the list is cayenne pepper, because it will make the other 9 work better."
Cayenne is the greatest blood circulation stimulant known. You can take all the milk thistle you want, but if you have bad circulation to your liver, it's not going to do you any good. Cayenne increases your blood circulation immediately within seconds, more than any other herb.
When you have a sick area, there's often a restriction of blood flow to that area. Blood flow is what takes nutrition and the healing properties of herbs to those cells. Blood flow is also what carries out and removes waste material. Cayenne pepper is like TNT. It blasts through all that blockage to get to that area which is sick, taking with it all the minerals and vitamins from the foods you eat, and all the vital chemicals from the herbs you take - all the way to the sick area.
Cayenne pepper is usually labeled 40,000, 60,000, 90,000 or more heat units. Generally, the higher the number of heat units, the more beneficial. The lower-heat cayenne peppers are a lot less efficient, and they are the ones which are most highly contaminated. These are the ones you see labeled for 30,000 heat units. These are the ones to stay away from.
| People who are not used to cayenne just need to work their way up. One problem people have is that they blow their mouths with cayenne, right off the bat. For those who have never used cayenne pepper before, a good initial dosage is 1/16th of a teaspoonful in some juice. Work your way up in dosage slowly. Put a small amount in some juice, stir and drink. Delicious. |
|
Cayenne powder
It is recommended that the cayenne powder be used, as opposed to capsules. It is believed that you are only getting a small part of the potential effect of cayenne pepper by taking it in capsules. When you put cayenne in your mouth, your stomach secretes digestive juices before the cayenne ever gets there. So when the cayenne gets down there, your stomach is ready for it.
But if you swallow a capsule, your tongue tastes nothing. A capsule goes down in your stomach, and your stomach notices nothing, at first. Then, 5 minutes later the gelatin bursts, and you have a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper in your stomach and your body is shocked. You surprised it.
What is going on is that some of cayenne's healing action occurs right in your mouth. As cayenne touches your tongue, the cayenne absorbs in seconds and nerve endings send signals throughout the body - sending waves of fresh blood throughout your body.
My favorite source for high quality, non-irradiated cayenne pepper 90,000 heat units by the pound is here . (If the link goes to a blank page, just search their site for 'cayenne'.) I also like Puritan Pride's special "Buy 1 Get 2 FREE" promotions on cayenne.
I highly recommend the book "The Health Benefits of Cayenne" by John Heinerman if you want to learn more about the power of cayenne. There is no other herb stronger or more effective than cayenne to make immediate physiological and metabolic changes in the body.
Sure, there are a few heating herbs like ginger and horseradish, but what other herb can you put in somebody's mouth and all of a sudden it makes their faces look like cherries? I don't know another herb that will do that, and cayenne does that through your whole body. Use it to improve blood flow throughout your body.
Benefits of Cayenne Pepper
http://health.howstuffworks.com/cayenne-pepper-herbal-remedies.htm
Are you a hot salsa or chili fan? Then you'll want to learn more about the virtues of the cayenne pepper. These ripe fruits of the Capsicum genus are widely used as a popular spice, but cayenne peppers also are dried and powdered or tinctured for medicinal purposes. In this article, you will learn some herbal remedies using cayenne pepper as well as some precautions you should take when using this fiery plant.
Uses of Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne stimulates digestion and muscle movement in the intestines, which helps restore deficient digestive secretions and aids absorption of food nutrients. (Stomach acid tends to decline with age, and some cases of poor digestion are related to a lack of this acid.)
©2007 Publications International, Ltd.
Cayenne peppers can be used in
a variety of herbal remedies from
indigestion to high blood pressure.
|
Cayenne also stimulates circulation and blood flow to the peripheral areas of the body. Because it stimulates digestion and circulation, cayenne is often added to a wide variety of herbal remedies; it improves the absorption and circulation of the other herbs throughout the body.
Have you ever gone after the chips and salsa with gusto and then felt flushed and drippy in the nose? Cayenne warms the body and stimulates the release of mucus from the respiratory passages. Anyone who has eaten cayenne knows that hot peppers can clear the sinuses and cause sweating.
Cayenne actually can raise the body temperature a bit, as it stimulates circulation and blood flow to the skin. An herb such as cayenne or ginger that promotes fever and sweating is considered to have a diaphoretic (sweat-inducing) action. This action can help reduce fevers and relieve such the congestion of colds and sinusitis.
Cayenne has become a popular home treatment for mild high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol levels. Cayenne preparations prevent platelets from clumping together and accumulating in the blood, allowing the blood to flow more easily. Since it is thought to help improve circulation, it's often used by those who have cold hands and feet.
You can use cayenne peppers topically as a pain-relieving muscle rub and joint liniment. The source of the heat is capsaicin, the fiery phenolic resin found in most hot peppers. Capsaicin causes nerve endings to release a chemical known as substance P. Substance P transmits pain signals from the body back to the brain.
When capsaicin causes substance P to flood out of the cells, you experience a sensation of warmth or even extreme heat. When the nerve endings have lost all of their substance P, no pain signals can be transmitted to the brain until the nerve endings accumulate more substance P. For this reason, topical cayenne pepper products are popular for the treatment of arthritis, bursitis, and for temporary relief of pain from psoriasis, herpes zoster, and neuralgia (nerve pain). These cayenne preparations are most appropriate for long-standing chronic conditions, not acute inflammations.
Heart
Cayenne has been known to stop heart attacks within 30 seconds. For example, when a 90-year-old man in Oregon had a severe heart attack, his daughter was able to get Cayenne extract into his mouth. He was pronounced dead by the medics, but within a few minutes, he regained consciousness. On the way to the hospital, he remained in a semi-conscious state, but the daughter kept giving him the Cayenne extract. By the time they got to the hospital, he had fully recovered and wanted to go home and mow the lawn. The doctor asked what she had given him, as he said it was the closest thing to a miracle he had ever seen.
If a heart attack should occur, it is suggested that a teaspoon of extract be given every 15 minutes or a teaspoon of Cayenne in a glass of hot water be taken until the crisis has passed. Dr. Anderson also knew of a doctor who rushed out into the parking lot and put cayenne tincture into the mouth of a man who had died of a heart attack while he was parking his car. Within a few minutes, the man’s heart starting beating again.
According to Dr. Richard Anderson, using cayenne and hawthorn berries together has a most incredible effect upon the heart. He believes that a regimen of cayenne and hawthorn berries for several months will greatly strengthen the heart, and possibly prevent heart attacks. He states further that if an attack were to occur in someone who had followed this regimen, chances are very good that no damage would occur. He tells the following story about his mother:
“I had her taking hawthorn berries and cayenne when she had a heart attack at the age of 79. Her diet had not been the best, and she was in an extremely stressful situation. While in the hospital, they found three blocked arteries and wanted to operate immediately. They did not think that she could survive for more than a few weeks if they didn’t operate. (How many have heard that story!) The doctors thought it would be very risky to operate, but they had her there, and there was a lot of money to be made. So they decided to take some tests in the hopes that they could find an excuse to operate. In spite of the fact that she had been taking lots of aspirin for her arthritis, smoked like she was the reincarnation of a boiler factory, and had just had a heart attack, they found that her heart was incredibly strong. In fact, they felt that her heart was stronger than most people in their 30’s! The good news was that not only did she survive the operation, but also she stopped smoking! Well worth the operation, don’t you think? In my opinion, that was the best thing the doctors ever did for her. Well, that is what hawthorn and cayenne can do for the heart, and every good herbalist knows it; every good doctor should also know it, but very few do.”
Emergencies
It is a good idea to always have some Cayenne extract on hand for emergencies. Dr. Anderson carries capsules of cayenne with him in the car and whenever he goes hiking, backpacking or mountain climbing. He says, “You never know when you may find someone having a heart attack or some other emergency.”
The following stories demonstrate only a few of the remarkable emergency uses of cayenne.
If a hemorrhage occurs in the lungs, stomach, uterus or nose, it is suggested that a teaspoon of extract (or a teaspoon of cayenne powder in a cup of hot water) be given every 15 minutes until the crisis has passed. The bleeding should stop in 10-30 seconds. The reason for this is that rather than the blood pressure being centralized, it is equalized by the Cayenne, and the clotting action of the blood becomes more rapid. For external bleeding, take cayenne internally and pour cayenne directly on the wound.
Dyspepsia
In a double-blind study, 30 individuals with dyspepsia were given either 2.5 grams daily of red pepper powder (divided up and taken prior to meals) or placebo for 5 weeks. By the third week of treatment, individuals taking red pepper were experiencing significant improvements in pain, bloating, and nausea as compared to placebo, and these relative improvement lasted through the end of the study.
A placebo-controlled crossover study failed to find benefit, but it only enrolled 11 participants, far too few to have much chance of identifying a treatment effect.
All double-blind studies of topical capsaicin (or cayenne) suffer from one drawback: it isn't really possible to hide the burning sensation that occurs during initial use of the treatment. For this reason, such studies probably aren't truly double-blind. It has been suggested that instead of an inactive placebo, researchers should use some other substance (such as camphor) that causes at least mild burning. However, such treatments might also have therapeutic benefits; they have a long history of use for pain as well.
Because of these complications, the evidence for topical treatments cited below is less meaningful than it might at first appear.
Pain
Capsaicin cream is well established as a modestly helpful pain-relieving treatment for post-herpetic neuropathy (the pain that lingers after an attack of shingles) peripheral neuropathy (nerve pain that occurs most commonly as a side effect of diabetes, but may occur with HIV as well as other conditions), nerve pain after cancer surgery and arthritis.
Capsaicin instilled into the nose may be helpful for cluster headache. (The fact that this has even been considered a viable treatment option shows how painful cluster headaches can be!)
Actual cayenne rather than capsaicin has been tested for pain as well. A 3-week, double-blind trial of 154 individuals with back pain found that cayenne applied topically as a plaster improved pain to a greater extent than placebo.
Skin Conditions
A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of almost 200 individuals found that use of topical capsaicin can improve itching as well as overall severity of psoriasis. Benefits were also seen in a smaller double-blind study of topical capsaicin for psoriasis.
Topical capsaicin is thought to be helpful for various itchy skin conditions, such as prurigo nodularis, but double-blind studies are lacking.
Bibliography
 Certified organically grown cayenne pepper powder 90.000 HU (type "cayenne" in their search box
Cayenne- Hawthorn: A synergistic blend of popular cayenne and hawthorn combined with powerful antioxidants Vitamin E and Lecithi
Cayenne pepper tincture 2 fluid ounce from Nature's Answe
Cayenne ointment and other cayenne pepper compounds
Making Tinctures -An Example with Cayenne Tincture - Dr. Schulze
- Start to make this and ANY Tincture, if possible, on a NEW Moon.
- Take a Quart Canning Jar and fill it 1/4 FULL with DRIED Cayenne Peppers, getting the HOTTEST ones (i.e. - Habanero, African Bird, Serrano, Jalapeno - 90,000+ Heat Units), that you can obtain.
- Add enough 50% Grain Alcohol (100 Proof Vodka) to the Cayenne Peppers (powdered, using a Blender or Grinder) to just COVER them.
- Use enough FRESH Cayenne Peppers, that you can blend with 50% Grain Alcohol (100 Proof Vodka) to turn the Mixture into an Apple Sauce-Like Consistency.
- Add this Mixture to the 1st Mixture, filling up the Canning Jar 3/4 FULL.
- Fill up the rest of the Canning Jar with MORE 50% Grain Alcohol (100 Proof Vodka).
- Shake it as MANY times as possible, during the Day.
- Let this Mixture SIT, until the following FULL Moon (15-16 Days), but OPTIMALLY until the following NEW Moon (28-29 Days)!
- Strain this Mixture through an UNBLEACHED Coffee Filter.
- Bottle the RESULTING Tincture.
NOTE: Part EQUALS Volume, NOT Weight in this Tincture Method. If using 95% Alcohol (190 Proof), then DILUTE in half with Distilled Water. Modify this procedure by using DRIED Herbs ONLY, if FRESH Herbs are NOT AVAILABLE, and when making other Herbal Tinctures also. Also if you want to make a SUPER-POTENT Tincture (i.e. - Cayenne Pepper & Lobelia Seed Pod), then allow the Mixture to sit for a FULL 3 Months!
Cayenne for your health
"Cayenne has the ability to clear the blood of matter and gasses that cause digestive problems and to help people who suffer from cold hands or feet. It alleviates inflammation and can break up the deposits that contribute to the pain of arthritis. It clears sinus congestion, conjunctivitis, and spongy, bleeding gums. Because it also has astringent qualities, it can stop bleeding and prevent swelling. A source of Vitamin C, it rejuvenates the entire body when energy is depleted and is such a powerful stimulant that just a few sips of cayenne water or a few grains of cayenne on the lips may help prevent shock or depression in times of physical or emotional trauma. And it is believed to be a good tonic for strengthening the heart. From my studies and my own experience with cayenne, I consider it to be an important ingredient for anybody interested in taking educated and careful responsibility for his or her own well-being in situations that are not serious enough to require a doctor's care or in circumstances in which medical attention is not immediately available. "
|
