Cayenne Pepper is an herb made from the dried pods of chili

peppers. Besides being a very popular spice in cooking,

cayenne has also been used medicinally for thousands of years.
High in Vitamins A, C, B complex, calcium and potassium,
cayenne is a wonderful healing aid for the digestive system
since it acts as a catalyst and increases the effectiveness of
other foods and herbs when used with them. It is also very healing for the heart and
circulatory system. Studies have shown that Cayenne can rebuild the tissue in the
stomach and the peristaltic action in the intestines.
Cayenne is traditionally used by herbalists to cure stomach aches, cramping, gas,
varicose veins, allergies, and constipation. One of the most amazing healing
properties of cayenne is that it has been used successfully time and time again to
relieve heart attacks:

From the healing text of Dr. Christopher:

"In 35 years of practice, and working with the people and teaching, I have never
on house calls lost one heart attack patient and the reason is, whenever I go in--if
they are still breathing--I pour down them a cup of cayenne tea (a teaspoon of
cayenne in a cup of hot water, and within minutes they are up and around). This
is one of the fastest acting aids we could ever give for the heart, because it feeds
that heart immediately. Most hearts are suffering from malnutrition because of
processed food we are eating, but here it gets a good powerful dose of real food
and it's something that has brought people in time after time. This is something
that everyone should know how great it is, because a heart attack can come to
your friends or loved ones any time. And even yourself. The warm tea is faster
working than tablets, capsules, cold tea, because the warm tea opens up the cell
structure--makes it expand and accept the cayenne that much faster, and it goes
directly to the heart, through the artery system, and feeds it in powerful food."

The main medicinal properties of cayenne are derived from a chemical called
capsaicin. Capsaicin is the ingredient which gives peppers their HEAT. A pepper's
capsaicin content ranges from 0-1.5%. Peppers are measured according to heat
units. The degree of heat determines the peppers' usage and value. Generally, the
hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains. In addition to adding heat to the
pepper, capsaicin acts to reduce platelet stickiness and relieve pain. Other
constituents of cayenne are vitamins E, vitamin C and carotenoids.
Today cayenne is used worldwide to treat a variety of health conditions, including
poor circulation, weak digestion, heart disease, chronic pain, sore throats, headaches
and toothache.

Ayurveda also utilizes cayenne to treat poor digestion and gas. Chinese medicine
uses cayenne for digestive ailments.

When taken internally, cayenne soothes the digestive tract and stimulates the flow of
stomach secretions and saliva. These secretions contain substances which help
digest food.

Cayenne is the greatest herbal aid to circulation and can be used on a regular basis.
Dr. Richard Schulze, the medical herbalist, says that "If you master only one herb in
your life, master cayenne pepper. It is more powerful than any other."

There is no other herb which increases your blood flow faster than cayenne.
Cayenne moves blood. When people ask Dr. Schultze, "What are the 10 most
important herbs to have in the home?" He tells them, "At the top of the list is cayenne
pepper, because it will make the other 9 work better."

Cayenne is the greatest blood circulation stimulant known. You can take all the milk
thistle you want, but if you have bad circulation to your liver, it's not going to do you
any good. Cayenne increases your blood circulation immediately within seconds,
more than any other herb.

When you have a sick area, there's often a restriction of blood flow to that area.
Blood flow is what takes nutrition and the healing properties of herbs to those cells.
Blood flow is also what carries out and removes waste material. Cayenne pepper is
like TNT. It blasts through all that blockage to get to that area which is sick, taking
with it all the minerals and vitamins from the foods you eat, and all the vital chemicals
from the herbs you take - all the way to the sick area.

Cayenne pepper is usually labeled 40,000, 60,000, 90,000 or more heat units.
Generally, the higher the number of heat units, the more beneficial. The lower-heat
cayenne peppers are a lot less efficient, and they are the ones which are most highly
contaminated. These are the ones you see labeled for 30,000 heat units. These are
the ones to stay away from.

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It is recommended that the cayenne powder be used, as
opposed to capsules. It is believed that you are only
getting a small part of the potential effect of cayenne
pepper by taking it in capsules. When you put cayenne in
your mouth, your stomach secretes digestive juices before
the cayenne ever gets there. So when the cayenne gets
down there, your stomach is ready for it.

But if you swallow a capsule, your tongue tastes nothing. A

capsule goes down in your stomach, and your stomach notices nothing, at first.
Then, 5 minutes later the gelatin bursts, and you have a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
pepper in your stomach and your body is shocked. You surprised it.

What is going on is that some of cayenne's healing action occurs right in your mouth.
As cayenne touches your tongue, the cayenne absorbs in seconds and nerve
endings send signals throughout the body - sending waves of fresh blood throughout
your body.

My favorite source for high quality, non-irradiated cayenne pepper 90,000 heat units
by the pound is here. (If the link goes to a blank page, just search their site for
'cayenne'.) I also like Puritan Pride's special "Buy 1 Get 2 FREE" promotions on
cayenne.

I highly recommend the book "The Health Benefits of Cayenne" by John Heinerman if
you want to learn more about the power of cayenne. There is no other herb stronger
or more effective than cayenne to make immediate physiological and metabolic
changes in the body.

Sure, there are a few heating herbs like ginger and horseradish, but what other herb
can you put in somebody's mouth and all of a sudden it makes their faces look like
cherries? I don't know another herb that will do that, and cayenne does that through
your whole body. Use it to improve blood flow throughout your body.

Did you know cayenne pepper has been documented as capable of destroying
cancer cells? Who has reported this? None other than the American Association of
Cancer Research. This should be reported in the American media but endless
celebrity stories about Brittany Spears' new hair cut or O.J.'s latest shenanigans are
judged more important. With the stranglehold that Big Pharma and the government
have on health information and services in this country, it's not a surprise. It is,
therefore, left to the truth seeker to discover alternative options.
Capsaicin, the key ingredient in cayenne pepper, kills androgen-independent
prostate cancer cells within the male body. Aside from its numerous and varied
health benefits, cayenne pepper's anticancer properties should be enough to warrant
a closer look but when one considers cayenne's heart health benefits not to mention
its affects upon every organ in the body, it rightly qualifies as nothing short of
miraculous.

In an article entitled, "Hot Pepper Kills Prostate Cancer Cells in Study" as published
in Reuters on March 16, 2006, Dr. Soren Lehmann of the Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center and the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine said the
following, "Capsaicin had a profound anti-proliferative effect on human prostate
cancer cells in culture." It caused 80 percent of the prostate cancer cells growing in
mice to "commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis." Additionally, researchers
said this in Cayenne Pepper "dramatically slowed the development of prostate
tumors formed by those human cell lines grown in mouse models."

Researchers say that while there is not that much difference in prostate cancer cells
from other cancerous cells so this study is quite interesting to say the least. So, how
do you take cayenne pepper? You can take it in a capsule form, but its greatest
benefits are taken by drinking it? "Drinking it"? Yes, taking it orally. By doing so, it
has a literal immediate effect. You simply mix 1/4th of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper
powder in an eight ounce glass of water (distilled or purified water is best), mix it up
and drink it. Don't worry, it won't hurt you but is highly beneficial. In time, you'll want
to move up to a full teaspoon or more, but start slow. The body will adapt. The first
few times you take it, it will come out of your eliminative organs with some heat. Don't
be alarmed. It's perfectly natural. By the third time I drank it, my body had acclimated.

Cayenne pepper has amazing curative and healing powers and is fantastic for the
entire system. Its effects upon the venous structure and heart are nothing short of
miraculous.