Scientists say that people who regularly eat spicy foods not only prolong their life, but they are also less likely to suffer from serious illnesses such as cancer, heart and respiratory diseases. According to a study group of international researchers, published in the British Medical Journal, the analysis suggests a link between eating spicy food and the length of life and reduced mortality. Years of observing the habits of some 500,000 Chinese people between 30 to 79 years showed that people who ate almost daily spicy and hot food lived longer and were rarely sick, from deadly diseases. The results of the researchers of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the University of Oxford and Harvard support previous studies that have indicated a potential protective effect of seasoning food on human health.
They assume that the main role of the capsaicin, the active substance found in chili peppers and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect which helps in the fight against obesity and cancer.
Health Benefits Of Chili Peppers:
Erectile Dysfunction
Some scientists believe that cayenne causes more nitric oxide in the blood stream and that nitric oxide is behind these health benefits. Nitric oxide causes the arteries to widen, thus lowering blood pressure and easing the work of the heart.
Erectile dysfunction is also treated with the same nitric oxide. So maybe there is something to Mexican men sitting around a table and eating really hot peppers to show how macho they are. Maybe it is really the hot peppers that makes them macho in another sense.
Pain Reliever
Capsaicin is not only a potent anti-inflammatory, which is useful for many types of pain, but also it provides pain relief by depleting your body’s supply of substance P, a chemical component of nerve cells that transmits pain signals to your brain. It also works by de-sensitizing sensory receptors in your skin.
This is why it’s often used in topical pain-relieving creams and patches. It’s actually the very intense burning sensation that, ironically, ultimately relieves pain. Gizmodo explained:
“Applied externally, chilies cause a sensation of burning, as capsaicin activates TRPV1 in nerves in the skin. But, if exposed to capsaicin for long enough, these pain nerve cells will become ‘exhausted’, having depleted their internal chemical stores.
The nerve cells are no longer able to respond to capsaicin (or indeed, anything that might cause pain) and so you are no longer able to perceive pain. This is why chronic exposure to capsaicin acts as an analgesic.”
In one study, a man with persistent pain due to wounds from bomb explosion experienced an 80 percent reduction in pain symptoms after using a capsaicin (8 percent, known as high concentration) patch.
Topical treatment with 0.025 percent (low concentration) capsaicin cream has also been found to relieve pain associated with osteoarthritis, with 80 percent of patients experiencing a reduction in pain after two weeks of four-times-daily treatment.
It’s also been shown to help reduce or eliminate burning, stinging, itching, redness of skin associated with moderate to severe psoriasis, and even help relieve migraine pain.
May Help You Lose Weight
Spicy foods increase satiety, helping you to feel full while eating less, and hot peppers may even help your body to burn more calories. Studies have shown capsaicin may help fight obesity by decreasing calorie intake, shrinking fat tissue, and lowering blood fat levels, as well as fight fat buildup by triggering beneficial protein changes in your body.
Part of the benefit may be due to capsaicin’s heat potential, as it is a thermogenic substance that may temporarily increase thermogenesis in your body, where your body burns fuel such as fat to create heat, with beneficial impacts on your metabolism and fat-burning potential.
It stimulates brown fat, for instance, a type of fat that generates heat by helping you burn calories, which is why it’s being explored as a tool for weight loss, healthy metabolism, and more.
Research suggests that consuming thermogenic ingredients may boost your metabolism by up to 5 percent, and increase fat burning by up to 16 percent. It may even help counteract the decrease in metabolic rate that often occurs during weight loss.
Migraine
I am not recommending it, but if you are courageous enough you could try curing migraine headaches by strongly sniffing in a lot of cayenne powder.
Heart Attack
Cayenne is good not only for after heart attacks, but also before they strike. Cayenne can prevent heart attacks because it lowers bad cholesterol, decreases blood pressure and decreases the plaques in arteries. Plaque build up can cause strokes, dementia, heart attacks and other health problems.
The remedy below is considered to be the best remedy for emergency cases of heart attacks. Just remember to use cayenne pepper and not hot pepper.
Ingredients:
- Cayenne pepper powder
- a few fresh cayenne peppers
- 50% alcohol (you can use vodka)
- glass bottle (1 litre)
- Gloves
Preparation:
- Put your gloves on because cayenne peppers are pretty hot.
- Fill a quarter of the glass bottle with cayenne pepper powder and put enough alcohol to cover the powder. If possible, do this on the first day of a New Moon.
- Blend a few fresh cayenne peppers, and add enough alcohol so it gets a sauce-like texture.
- Add the mixture to the bottle which should now be 3/4 full.
- Fill the bottle to the top with alcohol and close it well. Shake it several times during the day.
- Leave the tincture until the next New Moon (after 28 – 29 days), and strain it using a gauze. Keep it in a dark bottle.
- If you want to have a very strong tincture, strain it after 3 months.
- Close the bottle and store it in a dry and dark place. It doesn’t spoil, so you can use it as long as you want.
Dosage: 5 – 10 drops of the tincture to a conscious patient who has suffered a heart attack or a stroke. Add another 5-10 drops in 5 minutes. Repeat the treatment until the patient’s condition improves.
If the patient is unconscious, put 1-3 drops under the tongue, and start a CPR. Repeat the treatment every 5 minutes until the patient’s condition improves.
Prepare this remedy and always have it handy, because cayenne pepper is one of the strongest natural spices that can do miracles for the heart.
If you don’t have this remedy prepared and someone is suffering from a heart attack (He is still conscious and breathing) a combination of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and a glass of water can be given to that person.
This will increase the heart rate and carries blood to all parts of the body, thus balancing circulation. It has hemostatic effect, stops bleeding, and helps in heart recovery.
Other Health Benefits
Capsaicin-mediated activation of TRPV1-expressing neurons in the gastrointestinal tract promotes sympathetically mediated stimulation of brown fat, raising metabolic rate.
The increased expression of UCP2 [uncoupling protein 2] induced by TRPV1 activation exerts a protective antioxidant effect on the liver in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and on vascular endothelium in the context of hyperglycemia.
In rodent studies, capsaicin-rich diets have shown favorable effects on atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver, cardiac hypertrophy, hypertension, and stroke risk.
Capsaicin has both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and has even shown some promise for cancer treatment. Research has shown, for instance, that capsaicin suppresses the growth of human prostate cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed.
In one study, about 80 percent of the prostate cancer cells in mice were killed by capsaicin, while treated tumors shrank to about one-fifth the size of untreated tumors.
Capsaicin has also been shown to be effective against breast, pancreatic, and bladder cancer cells, although you’ll likely need to eat large amounts of capsaicin regularly to get such benefits (such as three to eight habanero peppers a week).
