Peer-reviewed articles on benefits of Cayenne

[Guest guest]

You can always find alot of articles at the HerbalGram site. Here

are the results of a search I've already done for you:

 

http://www.herbalgram.org/wholefoodsmarket/herbalgram/searc

h.asp?p=1 & s=cayenne & m=all

 

HerbalGram is the journal of the American Botanical Council.

 

And here's an article I found at ScienceDaily (see url at bottom of

page) You can probably find others there as well.

 

Source: Cornell University

 

Date:

1998-03-05

 

Food Bacteria-Spice Survey Shows Why Some Cultures Like It

Hot

Don't expect cayenne in Copenhagen, say Cornell biologists

who demonstrated cultural coevolution of antimicrobial spice

use with food-spoilage microbes in torrid climates

 

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Fans of hot, spicy cuisine can thank nasty

bacteria and other foodborne pathogens for the recipes that

come -- not so coincidentally -- from countries with hot climates.

Humans' use of antimicrobial spices developed in parallel with

food-spoilage microorganisms, Cornell University biologists

have demonstrated in a international survey of spice use in

cooking.

 

The same chemical compounds that protect the spiciest spice

plants from their natural enemies are at work today in foods from

parts of the world where -- before refrigeration -- food-spoilage

microbes were an even more serious threat to human health

and survival than they are today, Jennifer Billing and Paul W.

Sherman report in the March 1998 issue of the journal " Quarterly

Review of Biology " .

 

" The proximate reason for spice use obviously is to enhance

food palatability, " says Sherman, an evolutionary biologist and

professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell. " But why do

spices taste good? Traits that are beneficial are transmitted both

culturally and genetically, and that includes taste receptors in our

mouths and our taste for certain flavors. People who enjoyed

food with antibacterial spices probably were healthier, especially

in hot climates. They lived longer and left more offspring. And

they taught their offspring and others: 'This is how to cook a

mastodon.' We believe the ultimate reason for using spices is to

kill food-borne bacteria and fungi. "

 

Sherman credits Billing, a Cornell undergraduate student of

biology at the time of the research, with compiling many of the

data required to make the microbe-spice connection: More than

4,570 recipes from 93 cookbooks representing traditional,

meat-based cuisines of 36 countries; the temperature and

precipitation levels of each country; the horticultural ranges of 43

spice plants; and the antibacterial properties of each spice.

 

Garlic, onion, allspice and oregano, for example, were found to

be the best all-around bacteria killers (they kill everything),

followed by thyme, cinnamon, tarragon and cumin (any of which

kill up to 80 percent of bacteria). Capsicums, including chilies

and other hot peppers, are in the middle of the antimicrobial

pack (killing or inhibiting up to 75 percent of bacteria), while

pepper of the white or black variety inhibits 25 percent of

bacteria, as do ginger, anise seed, celery seed and the juices of

lemons and limes.

 

The Cornell researchers report in the article, " Countries with

hotter climates used spices more frequently than countries with

cooler climates. Indeed, in hot countries nearly every

meat-based recipe calls for at least one spice, and most include

many spices, especially the potent spices, whereas in cooler

counties substantial fractions of dishes are prepared without

spices, or with just a few. " As a result, the estimated fraction of

food-spoilage bacteria inhibited by the spices in each recipe is

greater in hot than in cold climates.

 

Accordingly, countries like Thailand, the Philippines, India and

Malaysia are at the top of the hot climate-hot food list, while

Sweden, Finland and Norway are at the bottom. The United

States and China are somewhere in the middle, although the

Cornell researchers studied these two countries' cuisines by

region and found significant latitude-related correlations. Which

helps explain why crawfish etoufée is spicier than New England

clam chowder.

 

The biologists did consider several alternative explanations for

spice use and discounted all but one. The problem with the

" eat-to-sweat " hypothesis -- that people in steamy places eat

spicy food to cool down with perspiration -- is that not all spices

make people sweat, Sherman says, " and there are better ways

to cool down -- like moving into the shade. " The idea that people

use spices to disguise the taste of spoiled food, he says,

" ignores the health dangers of ingesting spoiled food. " And

people probably aren't eating spices for their nutritive value, the

biologist says, because the same macronutrients are available

in similar amounts in common vegetables, which are eaten in

much greater quantities.

 

However the micronutrient hypothesis -- that spices provide trace

amounts of anti-oxidants or other chemicals to aid digestion --

could be true and still not exclude the antimicrobial explanation,

Sherman says. However, this hypothesis does not explain why

people in hot climates need more micro-nutrients, he adds. The

antimicrobial hypothesis does explain this.

 

The study of Darwinian gastronomy is a bit of a stretch for an

evolutionary biologist like Sherman, who normally focuses his

research on the role of natural selection in animal social

behavior and is best known for his studies of one of nature's

most social (and unusual-looking) creatures, the naked mole-rat

( " Heterocephalus glaber " ) of Africa. But eating is definitely one of

the more social behavior of " Homo sapiens " s, he maintains, and

it's a good way to see the interaction between cultural evolution

and biological function. " I believe that recipes are a record of the

history of the coevolutionary race between us and our parasites.

The microbes are competing with us for the same food, "

Sherman says. " Everything we do with food -- drying, cooking,

smoking, salting or adding spices -- is an attempt to keep from

being poisoned by our microscopic competitors. They're

constantly mutating and evolving to stay ahead of us. One way

we reduce food-borne illnesses is to add another spice to the

recipe. Of course that makes the food taste different, and the

people who learn to like the new taste are healthier for it. "

 

For biology student Billing, the spice research for a senior

honors thesis took her to an unfamiliar field, food science, and to

the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, where the

library contains one of the world's largest collections of

cookbooks. Now that the bacteria-spice connection is revealed,

librarians everywhere may want to cross-index cookbooks under

" food safety. " And spice racks may start appearing in

pharmacies.

 

-30-

 

Top 30 Spices with Antimicrobial Properties

 

(Listed from greatest to least inhibition of food-spoilage bacteria)

 

Source: " Antimicrobial Functions of Spices: Why Some Like It

Hot, " Jennifer Billing and Paul W. Sherman, " The Quarterly

Review of Biology " , Vol. 73, No.1, March 1998

 

1. Garlic

 

2. Onion

 

3. Allspice

 

4. Oregano

 

5. Thyme

 

6. Cinnamon

 

7. Tarragon

 

8. Cumin

 

9. Cloves

 

10. Lemon grass

 

11. Bay leaf

 

12. Capsicums

 

13. Rosemary

 

14. Marjoram

 

15. Mustard

 

16. Caraway

 

17. Mint

 

18. Sage

 

19. Fennel

 

20. Coriander

 

21. Dill

 

22. Nutmeg

 

23. Basil

 

24. Parsley

 

25. Cardamom

 

26. Pepper (white/black)

 

27. Ginger

 

28. Anise seed

 

29. Celery seed

 

30. Lemon/lime

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Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued

for journalists and other members of the public. If you wish to

quote any part of this story, please credit Cornell University as

the original source. You may also wish to include the following

link in any citation:

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/03/980305053307.h

tm

[Guest guest]

Here's another link. This looks even better as a source of info:

http://www.herbmed.org/herbs/herb80.htm

 

Fran

 

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• An abstract of one of the studies on cayenne (capsicum)

 

1: Arzneimittelforschung 2001 Nov;51(11):896-903 Related

Articles, Links

 

Capsicum pain plaster in chronic non-specific low back pain.

Keitel W, Frerick H, Kuhn U, Schmidt U, Kuhlmann M, Bredehorst

A.

Klinik fur Rheumatologie, Vogelsang, Germany.

Topically applied capsaicin (CAS 404-86-4) induces the release

of substance P, a neurotransmitter, from sensory C-fibres. In

addition, there is a specific blockade of transport and de-novo

synthesis of substance P. As a result, repeated applications of

capsaicin bring about a long lasting desensitisation to pain

(increase of pain threshold). The desensitising effect is fully

reversible. The confirmed pharmacodynamic actions and a

number of double-blind clinical studies indicate that local

capsicum preparations are very suitable for the treatment of

neuropathic pain or musculoskeletal disorders, with or without

inflammatory components. In a double-blind, randomised

parallel-group study a capsicum plaster was compared with a

placebo for 3 weeks in 154 patients with non-specific back pain.

Inclusion criteria were a history of back pain for a minimum

period of 3 months and a degree of pain of 5 or more on an

eleven grade visual analogue scale. The principal target variable

consisted of the score of 3 combined pain scales. Secondary

efficacy measures were tests of mobility, a disability index (in the

context of Arhus low back rating scale) and global assessments

by physicians and patients. For patients to be rated as

responders their total pain score at the final examination after 3

weeks of treatment had to show a reduction by at least 30% of

the baseline value. The study unequivocally achieved the target

criterion with a rate of responders in the capsicum group of

60.8% against 42.1% in the placebo group (p = 0.0219). The

sum of the 3 separate pain scales decreased more markedly in

the capsicum group than in the placebo group (38.5% compared

to 28.0%; p = 0.002). Relatively slight improvements of the

impaired mobility and the functional status are explained by the

characteristics of the disorder treated. The efficacy ratings by

observers and patients was definitely in favour of capsicum.

Adverse effects--mostly harmless and resolving

spontaneously--were reported by 15 patients in the capsicum

group and by 9 in the placebo group. The tolerance ratings by

investigators and patients were superior to the placebo product.

This, however, partly is due to the local pharmacological actions

of the drug. As in comparably positive randomised studies with

capsaicin cream in patients with osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia it

was shown that a capsicum plaster preparation can also be

used to advantage in chronic non-specific back pain.

Publication Types:

* Clinical Trial

* Randomized Controlled Trial

 

 

PMID: 11765591 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

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