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Health Benefits From Hot Peppers?

dvg

dvg

While watching a few Youtube clips of Neil from THSC eating super hot peppers, I was intrigued by his claim that his arthritus disappeared after he started his hot pepper habit.

Further searching of the health benefits from eating hot peppers made similar claims of these pepper's assistance with arthritus, as well as helping the body fight off a diversity of various ailments all the way from sinusitus, colds, flus, prostate cancer, stomach ailments through to helping prevent cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks and strokes.

Now i have to say that since I signed up on this site, I have really been inspired to up the hot pepper intake in my daily diet.

I have been eating one or two store bought orange Habanero peppers every day for over three weeks now. I eat the whole pods, seeds and all.

Last weekend, I went to a local farmer's market in Edmonton and found some 'Thai chili pods' as well as some locally greenhouse grown red Habanero peppers. The red Habaneros were picked from the grower's plants on Thursday and were very fresh.

I purchased a bag each of the 'Thai chili peppers' and the red Habs.

My wife and I next went to a West/East Indian Spice Shop and I bought some hot sauce, and as it turned out they had some red Scotch Bonnet pods for sale. I picked up a couple of the pods to try for later.

When I got home I tried the red Habs and they were crunchy, juicy, fruity and very, very hot. At least they were hot in comparison to the orange Habs, I had been eating.

Here are some pics of the pods I have been eating lately, hottest to mildest, from left to right: red Habanero, orange Habanero, 'Thai chili pepper' and red Scotch Bonnet.

IMG_4223-1.jpg


IMG_4233-1.jpg


I suspect the red Scotch Bonnets would have been much hotter if they were fresher. The capsinoids degrade in older peppers and just don't have the pungency of fresh peppers.


Now getting back to the topic, since I've been eating the hot peppers, I've noticed my lower back in the lumbar region is much more loose and pain free. I'm a tall guy, 6'3" and over 50 years of age, so I was happy to see the change in my back condition, which had been getting tighter, stiffer and more painful, in certain postions, over the last year or so.

And besides the noticeable improvement in my lower back, my whole outlook on life also seems to be more energized and positive.

Since I've been eating the hot peppers, I can't remember the last time I have felt so good overall, both physically and mentally.

I can see why these little pods might end up being so addicitve.;)

If any of you have seen any noticeable improvements in health since you starting adding hot peppers to your diet, I'd be interested in hearing your stories.

Cheers,

Doug
dvg
 
Well for what it's worth, I suffer from horrible stomach indigestion. When I keep hot peppers as an active part of my diet, I do not have this indigestion \ heartburn. I havn't noticed if it is just fresh pods or if powder might work. I drink ALOT of beer which keeps the heartburn around....unless I eat hot pods!!!


It's kinda amazing when you wikipedia the uses for capsaisin it says: Marine paint, Pepper spray\mace, and hot sauce. WTF Marine paint!!! Awesome. Hopefully someday the health benefits for hot peppers will be more clear.
 
oh yeah, the heartburn, i used to have a lot of that too. but until recently, that's lessened down quite a bit.
 
Yup after 45 years of eating peppers and working in some pretty toxic places, the only time I get sick is when I stop eating them.
George W.
 
NorTexChiliJs said:
Well for what it's worth, I suffer from horrible stomach indigestion. When I keep hot peppers as an active part of my diet, I do not have this indigestion \ heartburn. I havn't noticed if it is just fresh pods or if powder might work. I drink ALOT of beer which keeps the heartburn around....unless I eat hot pods!!!


It's kinda amazing when you wikipedia the uses for capsaisin it says: Marine paint, Pepper spray\mace, and hot sauce. WTF Marine paint!!! Awesome. Hopefully someday the health benefits for hot peppers will be more clear.
Click to expand...

Cayenne pepper has long been used as a natural remedy for stomach ailments. It has a healing effect on the stomach, whereas stronger peppers can continue to cause stomach discomfort and distress until an underlying or pre-existing stomach problem is successfully dealt with first.

And Marine Paint? Yes!

•• Capsaicin is toxic to some bacteria and has been evaluated for use as a marine antifoulant.9

This was lifted from npic's (National Pesticide Information Centre) Technical Fact Sheet on Capsaicin.

As it turns out capsaicin is treated as a pesticide and has it's own extensive data sheet.

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/Capsaicintech.pdf

Capsaicin is used as a marine antifoulant on boats to repel and prevent tubeworms and barnacles from setting up shop on a ship's underside.

And it is apparently quite toxic to some of the lower life forms out there.

Toxic?

Oh well, as the old saying goes, "What doesn't kill you will only make ya stronger".....or stranger.;)

dvg
 
I will take peer reviewed, evidence based research over anecdotal evidence any day of the week. On the pro side evidence suggests chillis are packed full of health promoting plant flavonoids and antioxidants, they are implicated in reduction of inflammation, analgesic (pain relief) in topical applications, increases in metabolic rate (keeping you slimmer, which is always a bonus) and most importantly in the reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease.

Cons include a slightly increased risk of stomach cancer. Increased risk of skin cancer in those using capsaicin cream. Drying and crushing/powdering chilli also comes with the risk of aflatoxins coming from naturally occurring fungus associated with the chilli. Aflatoxins are powerful liver cell mutagens and carcinogens.

The above being said, as always moderation seems to be key. Vitally important for those using drying as a preservation method, is to get those pods as dry as possible before powdering and subsequently keep the powder dry, to keep those aflatoxins at bay.
 
You know it's funny, I never connected the lack of heartburn to the increase of Capsaicin intake. I've seen some great sites describing the health benefits of eating hot peppers. Here's a good link:

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/03/29/capsaicin-7-powerful-health-benefits-of-the-stuff-that-makes-peppers-hot-004.htm
 
Mexican curanderos (folk doctors) use chile to cure a whole raft of stuff, in particular stomach ailments. Read UNAM stuff for data.

I know that, when I eat fatty foods, I get indigestion. When the fatty food has chiles with, I get no indigestion.
 
When I feel a cold coming on, I reach for NM green chiles first. Chiles have been my cold medicine for most of my life, and I know it works. I usually have green chile chicken soup frozen in baggies and it proves to be the best medicine when I get sick (which is rare). Some will say it is psychosomatic, I say it works.
 
chileaddict said:
When I feel a cold coming on, I reach for NM green chiles first. Chiles have been my cold medicine for most of my life, and I know it works. I usually have green chile chicken soup frozen in baggies and it proves to be the best medicine when I get sick (which is rare). Some will say it is psychosomatic, I say it works.
Click to expand...


That's interesting Chileaddict. Do you think the green NM chiles have better healing properties than the ripened NM pods would have?

And the fact that you believe that it works no doubt makes it all the more powerful medicine for you.



Here is another good link I found for some of the health benefits attributed to chile peppers.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026076.html

dvg
 
dvg said:
That's interesting Chileaddict. Do you think the green NM chiles have better healing properties than the ripened NM pods would have?

And the fact that you believe that it works no doubt makes it all the more powerful medicine for you.



Here is another good link I found for some of the health benefits attributed to chile peppers.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026076.html

dvg
Click to expand...

I do not know if either is more beneficial. I eat alot of both. The green chile is more accessible for me because I usually have about a one or two hundred pounds of it in the freezer (my year long supply). I use the dried red pods to make enchilada sauce, and that takes more work to make. The old chicken soup theory works for alot of people when they get colds, I just supersize it with green and red chile. Nothing like a good sweat to make you feel better.
 
I don't get sick often, but when I feel a cold coming on, I eat a lot of hot peppers and have a few shots of whiskey or brandy. Works every time! I also have arthritis and noticed it not being as bad since I really started eating LOTS of hot stuff (about 3 years ago). I was in Canada last year for about 6 months building cabins at a fishing lodge. It was me and 4 Canadian guys and the couple who own the resort. I went through a bottle of Dave's Insanity Sauce(only thing hot I could find) every 4 or 5 days and was the only one who liked spice. Everyone thought I was crazy and asked why I did it. I told them it was good for you and they all laughed and shook their heads. Most of them couldn't handle 1 drop in a big bowl of chilli. Anyway, everybody got sick including the owners and were inside for at least a week (it was below zero outside) and I never even got a tickle in my throat. I also had a few nips of whiskey every night. Between the whiskey and the hot sauce I felt invincible! Haven't been sick since either. :onfire: :beer:
 
Muskymojo, burning through a bottle of Dave's Insanity Sauce every 4 or 5 days is an impressive feat.

Dave's was one of the first hot sauces I found too, but the pepper extract contained in it, means it stays in the fridge door, at least until I run out of the other hot sauces I've bought since, or until I become immune to the other sauce's heat level.

But with that much fire circulating in your body, I can see why those pesky cold or flu bugs would be hesitant to tangle with you for fear of being fried alive.;)


I noticed that one of my visitors to my profile had fitting username for this topic: The Medicinal Pepper.

And when I visited his profile, I found that he also has a website:

http://themedicinalpepper.com/

It looks like this forum member has a science background and has more than a passing interest in the medicinal benefits to be found with hot chile peppers.

Hopefully he will continue to keep updating his site with new information as it comes to him.

I got the idea for the 'Losing weight on a brownie diet' thread from a link on his thread.

Just goes to show that ya never know where that next source of inspiration is gonna come from.

Thanks again for visiting and also for the inspiration, The Medicinal Pepper!

dvg
 
I cant remember where I read this, exactly. But, apparently the University of Tazmania did a search on capsaicin with diabetes. They said that diabetics that eat hot peppers on a regular basis regulate their blodd sugar 61% better than someone that didnt. They ALSO injected pure capsaicin straight into the pancreas of a diabetic mouse, and the pancreas started producing insulin!
My wife is a type 1 diabetic, so this was VERY interesting. But, she doesnt want a darn THING to do with hot stuff. She also has problems with her mouth, so even regular ketchup burns her tongue every-now-and-then. But, its nice info to know...
 
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