Hot Chili And A Healty Heart

Chili peppers are one of the unsung heroes of natural medicine. Contrary to what many say, eating chili peppers doesn’t cause ulcers. In fact, peppers have been shown to trigger mechanisms that actually protect the lining of the stomach. Just because the peppers can cause a burning sensation upon entering and exiting your body doesn’t necessarily mean they burn a hole in the stomach or other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Even if you don’t eat chili peppers, we recommend that you keep a large container of cayenne pepper powder around at all times. It’s safe and inexpensive, and has dozens of uses. Cayenne pepper works wonders for reducing blood pressure. One-half to one teaspoon twice daily mixed in a glass of warm water will often be like magic. If you find it difficult to take it this way, you can encapsulate it or buy capsules in health food stores but it's more expensive.

Start with 2 or 3 capsules a day. It also reduces the adhesiveness of blood platelets. In simple terms, it reduces blood clots—which are one of the major contributing factors to heart attack and stroke. A few capsules or a teaspoon of cayenne powder could be one of the easiest and least expensive ways to help prevent blood clot problems associated with extended airline travel which is known as deep vein thrombosis. It can be used to help open blood vessels and get oxygenated blood to vital organs immediately following a heart attack. Take a tablespoon of hot sauce such as Tabasco, or a heaping tablespoon of cayenne pepper, in a glass of warm water. Also, a tablespoon three times daily for two days following a stroke can help lower blood pressure while at the same time improving circulation.

Studies in Hungary recently found that consumption of capsaicin actually decreased the acid output of the stomach, while at the same time increased protective secretions. In simple terms, peppers act as an antacid. Capsaicin was also particularly effective at protecting the stomach from ulcerations caused by alcohol and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). These drugs, cause injury to the protective mucosal lining of the stomach—which results in bleeding. Capsaicin reduced the amount of NSAIDinduced bleeding dramatically. Researchers in Singapore compared the eating habits of 103 ulcer patients to those of 87 controls and found that ulcer patients consumed hot peppers an average of 8 times per month—compared to 24 times a month in the control group. Further evaluation revealed that eating the chili peppers reduced the risk of developing gastric ulcers by 53 percent. The fact is that hot chili peppers don’t cause gastric ulcers. They help prevent ulcers.