Cayenne Pepper Health: Immune Boost, Pain Relief, and More

I read where everyone is mixing with drinks etc, trying to kill the heat and taste or taking pills. I just cover my food with cayenne and love it. You get used to the heat very quickly and I use it at every meal, at least a teaspoon if not tablespoon, it's great in latte, red beer etc. If anything I over use it but I feel great, I always have a shaker of this pepper handy in my car, my suitcase, at work and camping.

I've been filling my own "00" gel caps with cayenne pepper for a year now, with no side effects. I take it orally now. This is the most beneficial way to do it. But you must start out with organic cayenne pepper at about 40, 000 SHU (heat units) by taking 1/8 tsp. In 4 oz. Room temp. Distilled water, after every meal and build up to hotter pepper.

DO NOT TAKE IT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH! YOU WILL REGRET IT!

I am now taking 1 level tsp. of organic cayenne pepper @ 90,000SHU in 4 oz. of distilled water after every meal. I can even swirl it around in my mouth for a while. You will get used to it...

This spice/herb is truly amazing.

I am 66 years old and I've never felt better in my life. If cayenne pepper was $50.00 a pound (which it isn't) I would still buy a pound every month.

Thanks for listening...

Hello everyone,
I would like to hear some feedback concerning using reg cayenne from the grocery store for medicine . I tried some of what I had and it was as hot as a firecracker! So, has anyone used the grocery store kind in the large container like chefs use, with a good outcome. THANKS!

Thanks for the suggestion of using a straw! I mixed a tsp. of lemon juice(bottle), a tsp of honey, in 2tbsp of yogurt, w/ a pinch of cayenne(1/4 tsp. on a small plate to keep track of tolerance). Using a straw did the trick. The way I tried it before felt like getting punched in the chest. This way it is just warm going down and I can feel clearer breathing after 5 min. I also started burping quite a bit ( had a meal about 1-1/2 hrs. ago. I'll keep upping my dose and keep you posted. God Bless!

I take Cayenne pepper in a small amount of cold water then drink warm water. I then take a spoonful of Honey. The burning is gone in half a minute.

To the person who had extreme side effects after taking cayenne capsules:

The reason you had this over reaction to the cayenne pepper pills is because you should never take anything that tastes hot in a pill form. The body needs to sense that some thing as hot as cayenne pepper is on its way down to the stomache and the stomache is then prepared with the appropriate digestive acids to accept the cayenne pepper to handle it and digest it without any reaction.

You may have been told by the people who sold you the pills that it's okay to take cayenne pepper in this form, but I will assure you it is not. Please listen to my advice or better yet do your own research on this and you will see I am telling you the truth.

Good luck,
Ellen

P. S. It is very easy to get cayenne into your diet and it is so cheap too. I put my cayenne in a glass of lemon juice which was freshly squeezed (and it needs to be an actual lemon, the fake plastic lemon juice dose nothing to help your health) and put a little cayenne pepper in and sweeten it with liquid stevia. It tastes refreshing and it is health promoting.

I have had much success with taking two teaspoons of cayenne pepper in a small cup of juice or beer (beer works really well--just about 3 ounces of it! ) but I have had unbearably bad side effects with cayenne *capsules*.

About 15-20 minutes after taking the capsules I get terrible, sharp stomach pains, cramps, and gas that last for a good 30 minutes and have me doubled over in pain. It feels like I swallowed a bomb!

I have read that cayenne should always be taken straight because digestion begins in the mouth, and the sharp spicy taste prepares the stomach to receive the pepper. For those fearful of the spicy taste, I vouch that I have a low "spicy-tolerance" and that when shooting the cayenne in a couple of ounces of liquid, the spiciness only lasts for 20-30 seconds and disappears completely. Not at all that lingering, intolerable burning we all know from eating Mexican food! Plus, drinking it straight gives you a pleasant head-rush and wave of energy. Cheers!

Cayenne Pepper suggestion: I started using cayenne for weight loss but love the way I immediately feel energized when I take it. I like covering it with cottage cheese but have stumbled across another way to take them by making my own cayenne pills. I bought empty Gelatin Capsules at a health food store and filled them with cayenne. The easiest way I found was to line up capsules on painters tape then, put another piece of painters tape on top of the capsules. This will keep them straight but you can fold them. Hold them over a pyrex dish and pour the cayenne all over them. You can tap them down several times and pour more until they are full. It's pretty easy to get the tops of the capsules on and beats trying to fill one at a time. Watch out for breathing the dust. You might want to use gloves or just be careful to keep your hands washed between working with the capsules.

I just wanted to comment that I know a great way of getting the cayenne down; pour it on cottage cheese. It goes down very easily with very little burn at all! I also add chopped eggs to it sometimes just to oomph it up a bit. I guess you could also chase it with water since this seems to be the rule here.

In order to avoid severe coughing while gargling with cayenne pepper (red pepper) in tempered water you need to breath deeply, hold your breath, take a sip of cayenne pepper, gargle, spit the mix and breath normal.

Gargling this way you avoid breathing through your mouth when you are sipping the mix and the dry cayenne powder doesn't get into your through.

Also, when the throat and larynx are irritated it is better not to swallow a lot of the mix so just swallow what is left in your spit after spitting the mix. It has worked wonderfully for me!

I have been experimenting with the ingestion of cayenne pepper. So far I have found that the easiest way is to have a drink shaker and a to ounce shot glass.

Add 1 Tbl spoon of Cayenne (maybe slightly less if just starting)
Add 1 Tbl spoon Liquid honey
Lemon juice to taste
4 - 5 ounces water

Shake for at least a minute.
This makes 2, 2 ounce shots.
you can have a glass of water or juice for a kicker, but the honey and lemon really kill the initial taste and shaking it up turns it into'more of a juice floaty spice in water that looks strange. I havent been doing this for long but I feel that the supposed health benefits outweigh the flavor factor.

Good luck! Tips and feedback would be nice.

I've read about people having problems with Cayenne, Habanero or other "hot" chilies or sauces and as a Chef who specializes in Mexican fare, plus I now live in Mexico too, I can give you a very easy and efficient remedy to ease the burning from peppers. Also, it doesn't matter if the burning is in your mouth, lips, face (from touching it with your hands after handling peppers) or hands, it works:

Put a little salt on the palm of your left hand, wet the tip of your right index finger in your mouth slightly and dip it in the salt and place it UNDER your tongue (sublingual) in the tender area on your jaw and not ON the underside of the tongue. Relief is very quick, easy to do, you can do it anywhere (like a restaurant) and works for everyone plus you can find salt everywhere.

Cayenne pepper works, but in order to ease the hotness, I just use orange juice. Put an 1/8 of a teaspoon in a glass of orange juice, and drink it. Make sure the oj has pulp in it, the cayenne will bond to the pulp, and it won't burn your mouth at all! I have been using this method for years. And DON'T use milk to "ease the hotness" when you're sick- avoid dairy products.

I actually haven't tried the cayenne pepper yet, but am sure it will work. I'm more concerned with what people are using to take the heat away afterwards... You should use sugar. It absorbs the heat. Bread probably works too, but not as much. Milk, just like water, spreads it around even more and will probably upset your stomach, especially if you try lemon with any of the remedies. So bottom line, use sugar not milk or water.

To remove the burning from your mouth after using cayenne pepper or chilli pepper,take a slice of bread and push it down on your tongue & the roof of your mouth.The pepper grounds stick to the bread and come right off the skin inside of the mouth.You might have to move the bread around to get it all but it stops the burning.