Well let�s see, the mighty chilli has been used for centuries now to help everything from the menopause to impotence, for increasing cognitive functions to stress relief. It cools the body in hot climates, for instance in India the further south you travel the hotter it gets, that�s the weather and the curry, starting with a creamy Kashmiri curry in the north and finishing with a hot Madras in the south, Indian herbalists may even recommend rubbing cayenne pepper into sore muscles and joints, next time you are passing the bathroom take a look at the active ingredients on your tin of Ralgex, see the CAPSAICIN? It�s the oil extracted from chillies and the source of all their heat. We measure the potency of a chilli on something called a Scoville Scale, it�s the amount of water required to neutralise a unit of capsaicin, a particularly weak chilli may have a Scoville rating of only 200-500,That�s 200-500 units of water per unit of capsaicin, whereas the hottest chillies in the world the fiery habaneros or scotch bonnets have a rating of up to 300,000 units (pure capsaicin is 16 million units) try and eat one raw and you might find out why they make a good emetic, then you will just have the burn to deal with and I wouldn�t recommend water, it would also be a waste of a good beer, remember capsaicin is an oil so a glass of milk would be better.
Capsaicin is also one of natures best anaesthetics, it interferes with the action of substance P, a nerve chemical that sends pain messages to the brain, your body can only produce a limited amount of this chemical so when it runs out you become desensitised to the pain. Chillies are a great way to use up your substance P and increase your body�s collagenase and prostaglandin, thus reducing pain and inflammation, this is why chillies have been used as a folk medicine toothache remedy and as a pain reliever for cold sores, shingles, post surgical pain, puritis (chronic itching syndrome) diabetic neuropathy, frostbite, arthritis and a variety of skin problems. Chillies are used a in throat spray to kill pain and act as an antiseptic, they are also used to help alleviate oral stomatosis (mouth sores caused by radiation and chemotherapy) Not only do chillies increase metabolism and kill pain but they may even thin your blood and equalise your circulation. In turn, chillies in your diet are reported to have a beneficial effect on reducing bruises and varicose veins. One report indicates that combined with garlic, chillies may even prevent strokes, help with arterial blockage and lower bad LDL cholesterol, while not effecting the good HDL. And the benefits don�t end there. If you want more vitality they (chillies) are a powerful stimulant, purging and cleansing the cardiovascular system. Dr Richard Schulze a leading U.S. herbalist and author of Curing With Cayenne said; `Cayenne turns your circulation on immediately, within seconds, more than any other herb, so really it should be in every herbal formula` He claims that it can save patients with heart disease from the need for a bypass and the results can be immediate `when you put cayenne in your mouth your stomach secretes digestive juices before the cayenne ever gets there so when it arrives your stomach is ready` Another benefit is that chillies produce chemicals in your airways such as cystine, this acts as an expectorant, so if you have a cold your chilli remedy will not only ease the pain it may help rid your lungs of mucous. In much the same way the Mayans used a hot chocolate and chilli mixture to relieve asthma. In India and Indonesia, chilli remedies are used to combat dysentery and diarrhoea, help stomach ache and increase the appetites of alcoholics, the Russians treat a number of illnesses including stomach distress with something called Nastoyka, chillies in vodka, almost worth getting ill for.
One cayenne pepper has 6 times more vitamin C than an orange, its richness in vitamin A promotes elasticity of the skin and immunity against degenerative diseases such as cancer, and it even cures barnacles. That�s right barnacles, its been discovered that if you add chilli to paint then use it on your boat it acts as a barnacle repellent. Barnacles are not the only things to be discouraged by chillies though, special birdseed has been developed to repel squirrels from bird tables. Interestingly enough birds are immune to capsicin, this is presumably to allow them to disperse the chilli seeds, in fact many of the smaller species are called bird chillies or `chiltepin` believed to be derived from the Aztec language, a combination of `chilli` and `tecpintl`, meaning `flea chilli` That word was altered to `chiltecpin` then to the Spanish `chiltepin` and is applied to any wild chillies in this case capsicum annuum variety, aviculre. The controversial anti-personnel spray used by the police is also made from capsicin and can be found in a variety of applications, for instance as a repellent to keep deer or other animals off of your garden, as a spray to keep dogs from chewing furniture and even in a spray/bomb to defend against bears. The great benefit of using chilli-based solutions is that it�s organic and will not usually harm the animals, it even makes great organic insecticides. |
