The Incredible Chili Pepper – The Next Best Healing Food
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007I just love hot food. I just add that chili pepper my food to give a great additional kick and flavor. Hot peppers are not only nutritional and good for you, but researchers are now showing that hot peppers are great in healing headaches and lessen the pain after surgery.
Chili peppers have been part of folk remedy for centuries, and heat-inducing capsaicin creams are a drugstore staple for aching muscles. In a research study done by The Clinical Journal of Pain capsaicin seemed to work better than placebos for headaches occurring in clusters. So you apply it topical in your nose? Just brings tears my eyes.
Have you ever eaten a really hot pepper and after the burn your tongue goes numb? Doctors are now looking at this as an aid to healing after highly painful operations. They are dripping an ultra-purified version of capsaicin directly into the wounds during surgery. This numbs the nerves for weeks after surgery. The patients suffer less pain and require fewer painkillers as they heal. Please don’t try this at home the patients are under anesthesia when this happens so they don’t cream in horror when the chemical is applied.
Other studies are being performed on using capsaicin for more focused pain relief. They are looking at using it with another anesthetic for epidurals in childbirth and dental injections that won’t numb the whole mouth. The list goes on. One of the most interesting studies is the use of capsaicin with advanced cancer patients whose pain is no longer relieved by modern pharmaceuticals. Injections into the spinal columns of cancer-riddled dogs did more than temporarily numb – It severed some nerve connections.
So go out and enjoy this natural wonder. It makes you food taste better and it’s nutritious for you too.
Tags: capsaicin, chili pepper, headaches, healing food, hot pepper, nutrition & health
