To some extent, energy levels in the body of a person are known to be boosted by consuming some capsicum or some paprika. Many herbal energy boosting products in fact contain the capsicum in some form; this is especially true of many products available in the herbal market, including the product called Nature's Way Herbal Up, which is available in the majority of health food stores around the United States. Among volunteers in a clinical setting who used capsicum in diet regularly, the consumption of cayenne pepper actually increased the strength of the electrical energy auras in the body. The strength boosting capabilities of the cayenne peppers can be understood from the results of this finding itself.
Fat or alcohol can dissolve capsaicin - the fiery ingredient in chilies and peppers very easily. For this reason, when people consume chilies or peppers in their meals or for medicinal property and are affected by the "fiery" sensation, they often tend to resort to drinking either milk or beer to help reduce the intensity of the "hotness" induced in the taste buds - beer and milk are very popular in this regard with chili and pepper eaters.
A pepper based ointment consisting of one part ground hot pepper and five parts petroleum jelly - Vaseline - is manufactured and used in mainland China and the country of Taiwan to treat athletic injuries and other work related to physical injuries like muscle sprains, all kinds of bruises, and the swollen painful joints - this ointment is rubbed into the affected area of the body directly for relief from the physical trauma. The petroleum jelly - Vaseline - is initially melted down and to the ground hot pepper is added, the preparation is mixed well and then allowed to undergo cooling till it congeals and forms a gel - at which point it is ready for use. The affected area of the body can be rubbed using this herbal ointment once every day, or once every two days for maximum relief from the pain. The efficiency of this healing ointment can be gauged from a report published in the year 1965 in the journal of traditional medicine from Zhejiang, China, where seven out of twelve patients who were treated using the ointment alone were cured completely, while three patients improved significantly, at the same time two of the patients did not respond very well to the treatment using the ointment. Four to nine applications of the ointment needed to be used to bring relief in those cases where the treatment was successful.
The cayenne pepper can easily cure soreness in the throat of patients, according to many naturopathic physicians; the worst pain imaginable during a sore throat can be treated with great effectiveness using the cayenne based herbal remedies. Herbalists say that such physical relief from the sore throat can persist for up to four hours at a time following treatment. The suggestion of these naturopath physicians is for use a gargling mixture of some lemon juice, with cayenne pepper and some salt - this mixture can be used to gargle during a sore throat to alleviate the pain. The possibility of viral infection is also negated by this simple formula, at the same time that it is beating back the pain. An astringent quality is given to this remedy by the addition of the sour citrus juice of the lemon or lime, the presence of the sour citrus brings about the shrinkage in the swollen membranes of the throat and aids in the rapid removal of accumulated mucus in the throat. Bacterial growth and multiplication is inhibited by the presence of the salt in the mixture, the warm and moist places of the body like the throat are otherwise very good places for bacterial multiplication and growth.
The preparation of this cayenne based throat gargle is simplicity itself, the searing gargle is made by initially mixing the juice of half a lemon or lime with a single full tablespoon of salt. These must then be stirred well in both half a cup of distilled and lukewarm water. The cayenne pepper can then be added in by stirring a quarter of a teaspoon of the cayenne pepper into the water. This medication must not be swallowed in any even, however, it is essential to gargle small amounts of this very potent remedy as long as possible - the longer the better, as the soreness in the throat must be reached and washed out using the gargle. The basic throat remedy can be turned into different tasting variations, by adding other ingredients such as honey, some blackstrap molasses or even some pure maple syrup or some pure vanilla extract - the horrible and burning taste can be improved and some flavor can be given to the gargle by these additions. During an incidence of painful sore throat, the mixture can be used as a gargle, ideally once every four hours, or even as needed till the symptomatic pain or the soreness disappears.
At the pain clinic of the Toronto General Hospital, Canada, researchers found a new method of treating the prolonged cases of shingles in patients some time ago. These researchers found that the disease tended to include a chronic phase characterized by severe persistent pain known as post-herpetic neuralgia in about 15% of the cases. In this particular phase, the patient is so severely affected that the slightest touch of a bed sheet can cause a lot of pain - resting for any length of time becomes a near impossibility. However, the use of a capsaicinoid based topical cream developed by the researchers on the affected areas of the body of patients' with shingles led to the sensitization of skin, at least fifty six per cent of the patients in the test reported a significant reduction in the pain they felt, while seventy eight per cent of the patients in the test spoke of a slight decrease in the painful symptoms on application of the cream.
Though devoid of scientifically validated proof, some clinical studies conducted on different test patients point to the fact that the inclusion of small amounts of cayenne pepper and other varieties of chilies in the daily diet regularly may aid in significantly lowering the risk of individuals ever suffering from pathogen induced disorders of the respiratory system and there seemed to be a much reduced chance of being affected by viral induced pneumonia - such effects can only be attributed to the presence of capsaicin in the peppers and chilies. The onset of infections in the respiratory system also seems to be curtailed by capsaicin, while the actual mechanism is not fully understood by researchers, the compound capsaicin some how boosts and strengthens the lungs by promoting the natural defenses of the human immune system. The presence of high amounts of the essential vitamin C in chili peppers may perhaps be responsible for the occurrence of this particular phenomenon, added to the effects of the capsaicin, the high vitamin C content may be able to significantly boost the performance of the immune system in the body. In the early parts of the 1930's, the late Hungarian scientist Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi researched the properties of the cayenne pepper, particularly the paprika, during the course of these investigations, the scientist discovered and then managed to isolate the important nutrient vitamin C, the discovery would go on to result in a Nobel Prize in medicine for him. The vitamin C content found in chilies is over all significantly much more per unit weight of the nutrient than that found in oranges or in grapefruits and other citruses. To guard against the dreaded vitamin C disease called scurvy, British sailors or "limeys" carried on voyages pickled lime, many Spanish sailors beginning from the 16th century on preferred taking with them large amounts of pickled peppers as they could be stored in the voyage - this is a good and probable explanation for the high content of vitamin C in peppers. The vitamin C present in the lime and the chilies prevented the disorder called scurvy, a very common deficiency disease on long voyages in the old days.
