Cayenne as Medicine and Current Findings

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Cayenne as Medicine and Current Findings JoAnn Guest May 02, 2005 21:31 PDT

 

 

 

FROM THE MEDICAL WORLD

 

http://herballegacy.com/medical___findings.htm

Most medical doctors eliminate hot foods such as capsicum from the diets

of ulcer patients and others with delicate digestion; as we have shown,

this is directly opposite to that which is recommended by herbalists.

 

 

Their actions are influenced from medical research showing hemorrhaging

occurring after introducing (mechanically) capsicum into the stomachs of

persons prone to hemorrhages. Their observations are fact but tend to be

inconclusive. Perhaps any substance introduced mechanically into the

system could have caused hemorrhaging. From personal experience, I was

very uncomfortable taking capsicum for my bleeding ulcers, but after one

day of taking capsicum, in water, I never again experienced passing dark

blood through my stools. Perhaps the immediate bleeding observed, by the

researchers, would have been corrected through continued herb care.

 

 

 

FOOD AS MEDICINE

 

 

The most prominent non-medical use of Capsicum, of course, is culinary,

a perfect example of the old maxim, “Let your food be your medicine and

your medicine your food.” In kitchens all over the world, Capsicums are

used to prepare hot dishes, and are even featured as a vegetable

themselves. The peppers are ground and mixed with other spices to make

Chili Powder, a common seasoning almost everywhere.

 

 

If you are fortunate enough to grow or purchase your own chili peppers,

you can preserve them yourself. You can pickle them as you would

cucumbers, adding carrots, celery, onions or other vegetables as the

Mexicans do. If you wish to can or freeze green chilies, you will need

to roast and peel them. Roast them over an open flame or in a hot oven

until the skins blister. Quickly put them into a plastic bag or damp

cloth until the steam loosens the skins. You may then, with hands gloved

in rubber gloves or well-oiled—to avoid blistering or buming—peel the

peppers. Remove the seeds if desired, chop if desired, and freeze in

plastic bags, well-sealed. If you wish to can them, follow directions

included with your canning jars as to pressure needed in a pressure

canner.

 

 

You may use green hot peppers to make your own taco or hot sauce. To two

or three quarts of tomatoes, add salt and garlic pepper to taste, and

two to three cups of chopped, peeled chills. Can as usual for tomatoes.

 

 

The Mexicans make a raw chili salsa, with chopped tomato, onion, garlic,

and fresh chili pepper. This salsa is an excellent and garnish to any

meal.

 

 

By far the easiest culinary use of Cayenne is just to sprinkle it upon

your food, as you would use black pepper. Use a little at first,

increasing as you become accustomed to the pungency. For everyday

maintenance o(good health, this is an excellent way to use Cayenne. Even

children can learn to enjoy foods thus seasoned.

 

 

As for other uses, the leaves are used extensively in the Philippines as

a green dye. The powder can be sprinkled in primitive living sites to

drive off bugs and vermin, as they detest Cayenne, and it can also be

burned to fumigate against vermin. A room thus fumigated can be opened

and used fight after the treatment, as the fumes are not poisonous to

humans (Levy:43).

 

 

 

 

CURRENT FINDINGS

 

 

Recent research has focused on the extraction and isolation of the

constituents of Capsicum. Lee et al. devised a mass fragmentographic

method for the quantitative microanalysis of Capsaicin, the major

medicinal constituent of Capsicum (Journal of Chromatography, 21 July

1976). Salzer, noting that most industrially prepared quick foods are

relying on seasoning extracts rather than the more easily deteriorated

spices themselves, discovered that the main flavoring constituent of

Capsicum is capsaicin (Critical Reviews in Science and Nutrition, 1977).

 

 

Of most interest medicinally, Frischkorn and Frischkorn researched the

debilitating tropical disease, schistosomiasis, or snail fever, which is

contracted through the skin by contact with snail larvae in fresh water.

They estimate that up to half of the people in the third world are

afflicted with this disease. Aside from chemotherapeutic treatment and

water treatment, they discovered that the oil of Capsicum annuum, which

is high in capsaicin, kills the larvae, and that frequent ingestion of

Capsicum can help treat the disease (Naturwissenschaften, September,

1978)

 

 

Of particular interest to herbalists who are interested in the reasons

why Capsicum is so valuable in heart disease, Kanner et. al. analyzed

Capsicum annuum for tocopherol content. They found that of all the

edible plants, Capsicum annuum contained the most natural Vitamin E,

which is in a peculiarly stable form. In fresh, ripe pepper fruits, they

found 3-10 mg./100 grams, which shows that the vegetable could become a

significant source of Vitamin E in the diet. Vitamin E is often used to

treat heart conditions. Because there is also a goodly amount of

ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in the peppers, the two vitamins are well

balanced naturally, which the authors considered a fact of great

importance in nutritional and technological considerations (Journal of

Agricultural and Food Chemistry, November-December, 1979, pp. 1316-8).

 

 

 

 

DESCRIPTION

 

 

Capsicum belongs to the botanic family Solanaceae, commonly known as the

Nightshade family and including potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers,

eggplants, the deadly nightshade, henbane, Jimson weed, petunias, and

tobacco (Heiser:l). They are not true peppers, but were misnamed by

early Spanish explorers who confused their hot taste with the pepper to

which they were accustomed.

 

 

Capsicum annuum is a shrubby perennial plant two to six feet high.

Branches are angular, usually enlarged and slightly purple at the nodes;

petioles medium; penducles slender, often in pairs, and longer than the

fruit; calyx cup-shaped, clasping base of fruit which is red, ovate, and

long; seeds small and flat, from ten to twenty nine. The cuticle of the

pericarp is uniformly striated and in this particular is distinct from

other species. The taste is pungent and the smell characteristic, though

not disagreeable (Gri: 175-76).

 

 

The peppers, when dried, vary in lengths from 3/8 inch to 2 1/4 inches

and in width from 3/16 to 1/2 inch. The shape is blunt and roundish at

the base, tapering to a point; oblong-acuminate. The pods are shiny,

flattish and somewhat wrinkled. The seeds are small, flat, reniform, and

yellow.

 

 

The African varieties are smaller and more pungent than the American

varieties, which are larger and more heart-shaped.

 

 

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