Benefits Of Cayenne Pepper
The Many Benefits Of Cayenne Pepper
The benefits of cayenne pepper go beyond adding a bit of zing to your meals. You're certainly going to be using some if you're cooking Mexican dishes, another name for cayenne pepper being chili pepper. Some people enjoy spicy dishes, but you don't have to add it to meals to the point where everyone at the table is breathing fire. A small pinch here and there adds a bit of spice, or you can just add enough to bring out the flavor in a dish.
If you want to add it to your meals on a regular basis, you'll probably get a kick out of growing the pepper yourself. It's not hard to do, and is a rather attractive little plant. It's a warm weather plant, so you'll want to start it from seedlings in cooler weather locations. A few plants in a container on a patio can give you a nice supply, especially if it's just the powder than you plan to use. Once the peppers are harvested (they'll let you know it's time by turning red), you can dry them out and grind them up later. Be extra careful not to get the powder in your eyes or mouth, or inhale any. Why? Let's just say that the active ingredient, capsicum, is the main ingredient in pepper spray, used to keep bears at bay.
One of the lesser known benefits of cayenne pepper is its use as a coagulant. Applied directly to a heavily bleeding wound, cayenne can stop hemorrhaging quickly, and for that reason is often found in back country travel first aid kits. Cayenne pepper can serve as a blood pressure medication, a preventer of strokes, and for the treatment of acid reflux. It is not recommended that you stop any prescription medication and rely solely on cayenne pepper, but you should notice a difference if you start adding it to your meals.
The main ingredient in cayenne pepper, capsicum, is a bacteria fighter, and encourages healing, fights infection, and lowers cholesterol levels in the blood. One of the more amazing features of capsicum is, while useful in stopping hemorrhaging, it at the same time can help dissolve blood clots. It contains vitamin A, promoting healthy skin and vision, and vitamin C, a cancer cell fighter.
Externally, capsicum is used in pain killing rubs and ointments, and taken internally also helps reduce the intensity of many bodily aches and pains. If cayenne pepper is a little too hot for your taste, cayenne pills are an option. They are still hot, but only your stomach will know, and one or two pills a day is unlikely to cause gastric distress. Yet another of the many benefits of cayenne pepper is it is very beneficial in protecting the lining of the intestines, and speeds up the healing of ulcers.
While not a wonder drug by any means, cayenne pepper does have a whole host of benefits, beyond just spicing up your meals. Give some thought to incorporating it in with your regular diet if you're not already doing so.