When I set out to learn more about how other cultures view and use spicy ingredients, I was in no prepared for what I found.
Not because of any strange, secret uses for spice that sent me fleeing back home. Instead, what I found was that in so many cultures around the world, where a pile of the world’s hottest peppers is as normal in a kitchen as a cup of sugar, spice is a medicine. In fact, peppers have been used for medicine for centuries; but even with access to modern-day medications, people all over the world still turn to spicy chili peppers to help them stay well.
While I travel, I always like to gather information about what spice can be used to heal. With as much of it as I’ve eaten, surely I must be invincible by now! But it’s not the pepper itself that has such a healing effect – it’s a chemical compound lurking inside the pepper, called capsaicin.
What Is Capsaicin?
Capsaicin is the active chemical in peppers that make them feel hot to our mouths. When you bite into a pepper and immediately wonder where you can get the biggest glass of milk to distinguish the flame, you’ve just met capsaicin. In addition to being ridiculously hot, though, capsaicin is good for a lot of other reasons. We’ll get to those in just a second.
You can tell how much capsaicin is in a particular pepper by checking out its Scoville rating. Sweet peppers, like bell peppers, have no capsaicin in them at all. Jalapeño peppers have anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000 Scoville units, while the hottest known pepper on Earth, the Ghost pepper, has over 1,000,000 Scoville units. Police grade pepper spray contains more than five times that amount. Capsaicin, as you can see, runs a very large gamut, and even at the lower levels, it is fairly spicy for someone unused to eating spicy dishes.
In addition to heating up your favorite cuisine, capsaicin has some pretty surprising effects on the body. Here are just a few of the health benefits of capsaicin.
1. Helps soothe digestive disorders and gastric distress.
This probably comes as a total shock for those who believe that spicy foods cause ulcers or acid reflux. The truth is that while capsaicin can add to the pain of heartburn, it doesn’t cause any of these digestive problems. Instead, capsaicin can actually be a pretty big help. First, the stomach and intestines are protected from stomach acid by a layer of saliva and mucus. Capsaicin not only helps to promote the production of both of these things, but also helps to inhibit the production of excess stomach acid. Second, capsaicin has been shown to be a part of the cure for IBD. It can also kill off the bacteria that are known to cause ulcers.
If you look into capsaicin as a digestive aid, be sure to avoid foods with a lot of dairy, such as cheese or cream sauces. These ingredients can upset the stomach, and many people are tempted to blame the negative effects on spice.
2. Clears up congestion and fights colds and the flu
It’s not really much of a surprise that spicy foods can help clear up a blocked sinus cavity. Congestion just doesn’t stand a chance, and pretty soon your eyes and nose are running freely. But capsaicin does more than just get rid of blocked mucus in the nose; it also helps prevent sinus infections and fights against colds and the flu. In addition, the peppers that contain capsaicin also tend to contain tons of vitamins and nutrients that are important for healthy immune systems; this means they can help fight the cold even more.
3. Helps you lose weight
I’m not saying that everyone should just switch to eating an all-spicy diet (though I wouldn’t be opposed, myself), but there is ample evidence to support the idea that spicy foods help you burn fat. Here’s why: capsaicin acts as a thermogenic agent in the body, which basically just means when we eat peppers, we get hot. It’s common to sweat when eating spicy foods as your body tries to regulate its temperature.
If you haven’t already guessed from the vocabulary of “burning” fat, heat is a metabolic activity in the body. That’s why saunas and hot tubs are so popular with gym goers. The more your body attempts to cool itself down, the more fat you burn. And in fact, there are quite a lot of fat-burning supplements on the market that contain capsaicin. Studies have shown that capsaicin does have a measurable effect on the metabolism directly after eating.
Other studies show that eating capsaicin-rich foods make you feel fuller, longer. The exact reason for this is still being researched, but the fact is that many studies have shown that those who ate a spicy appetizer before their meal almost ate significantly fewer calories, than those who ate a bland appetizer. This fact could help you lower your daily caloric intake and reduce fat intake.
4. Boosts heart health.
Capsaicin has been shown to reduce cholesterol, and help reduce blocked blood vessels. There is a compound called fibrin that the body has to have in order to form blood clots correctly; capsaicin helps the body dissolve and absorb this compound as well. And if you look at heart attack and stroke statistics from around the world, you’ll see that the countries where spice is an all-day, everyday addition to meals suffer far fewer heart attacks and strokes than other areas of the world.
5. Acts as a pain reliever.
Capsaicin is frequently used in pain-relieving ointments in the medical industry because it helps to relive pain. The way it does that is pretty interesting. When the body’s nerve cells come into contact with capsaicin, they send up a red alert to the brain saying “Hey, something is on fire!” Just think of these guys as your brain’s smoke detector. In order to protect the body from pain, the brain then immediately sends out a variety of chemicals of its own, which help you feel calm and happy.
While your brain is doing that, capsaicin is back at the site of the pain, ripping the batteries out of the smoke detector. What I mean is, capsaicin then inhibits the specific pain transmitter so that it can’t tell the brain about the pain anymore. With the brain and capsaicin working together on this, the result is a pretty significant pain relief. Capsaicin is used to relieve cluster headaches, back pain, arthritis pain, sinus headaches, pain from sprains, pain from conditions like shingles, and more. The effect that capsaicin produces is measurably similar to the effect of opioid medications like morphine.
6. Fights cancer.
There has been a lot of study recently into capsaicin, and the properties of spices in general, as cancer fighters. One study in Cancer Research showed that in mice infected with prostate cancer, over 80% of the prostate cancer cells died after the mice were given a treatment of capsaicin, and caused the size of tumors to reduce to 1/5th their original size.
The study right now suggests more that capsaicin inhibits the growth of cancerous cells, but there is still a lot of research happening that could indicate that capsaicin actually kills cancer cells. Spices such as turmeric are also being studied as potential cures for colon cancer.
7. Relieves constipation.
If you’ve ever decided to splurge on the “extra, extra hot” dish at your local Thai food place, you probably already know about this health benefit. Capsaicin is an anti-inflammatory, which causes the intestines and gastrointestinal muscles to relax. It also stimulates secretions in the gastric system that make digestion move along more efficiently. All in all, that means that constipation is a thing of the past.
8. Reduces psoriasis.
In 1996, a study showed that moderate to severe psoriasis could be effectively treated with a topical capsaicin cream. The pain-relieving factor helped to relieve the burning and stinging feeling this condition can often cause. Because capsaicin effectively numbs the area by shutting down the pain transmitters, it also helps get rid of the itchiness. Finally, because capsaicin is an anti-inflammatory, it helped reduce any swelling or redness associated with swelling in the area.
The result was that, due to no longer being itchy or in pain, and due to the anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties of capsaicin, it only took six weeks of application for a significant improvement to be noticed across the study.
9. May help cure diabetes.
There is ongoing research currently that is showing some pretty incredible results regarding capsaicin and diabetes treatment. Medical researchers in Toronto injected capsaicin into the pancreatic sensory nerve cells of Type 1 diabetic mice; the early results are so far promising, but not yet conclusive. If this research shows some solid evidence of improvement, it could mean that capsaicin was part of discovering the link between diabetes and nerve cells. So not only is it a potential cure, it could also pave the way for a better understanding of this and many other diseases.
10. Can help fight stress, depression, and anxiety.
Remember earlier when we talked about what happens when the brain and capsaicin start to tango? The first thing the brain does when it is alerted to the spicy hot sensation caused by capsaicin is to release endorphins and dopamine. Both of these chemicals are “pick-me-ups”, causing feelings of happiness and contentment. In fact, dopamine is the chemical that your brain marinates in when you feel love.
Capsaicin has even been known to cause a nearly drugged-like state, with some people having hallucinations or feelings of being high after eating it. That probably won’t happen to you, but the point is that it’s very clear that capsaicin does have a significant effect on the brain. That may be why, after a long and hard day of work, many people crave spicy Mexican food. If you’re ever feeling a little bit blue, try some jerk chicken, Cajun gumbo, Thai noodle soup, or Indian curry. You’ll probably feel better in no time!
Amazing Health Benefits of Capsaicin
Who would have thought that all those benefits were inside one little pepper?
Well, apparently…just about everyone except North Americans. In countries like India, Mexico, Thailand, China, Jamaica, Morocco, Israel, Ethiopia, and many more, spices have played a key role in the medicinal traditions dating back thousands of years. In India, for example, it’s common to drink spiced tea (you might know chai, but there are other types of spiced tea as well) when you have a cold, or after dinner to help with digestion.
And if you’ve ever had a traditional caldo de pollo, or chicken soup from Mexico, you’ll known that it is filled with tasty, smoky chili powder. This soup is often a go-to for Mexican mothers who need to soothe a sick child.
Clearly, these people have always known something we haven’t. Luckily, we are catching on. Capsaicin, when used topically, can get rid of pain, heal skin conditions, and help with arthritis. When eaten as an ingredient, it can help with digestion, prevent ulcers, keep your heart healthy, help you lose weight, and much more. As I said, this list is definitely not exhaustive. These are just some of the most exciting ways that capsaicin can help you stay healthy.
What’s Next?
Now that you know, how do you plan to get in your capsaicin wonder drug? For one thing, you can start exploring all the delicious spicy cuisines around the world. Branch out from your typical Mexican and Chinese food, and try the many spicy Middle Eastern dishes or Caribbean dishes out there. But you can also find topical ointments and oral medications that include capsaicin concentrate for a more specific dose. Whatever you do, be sure to keep your eye on this amazing compound – with so much research going on right now, we’re sure to find out even more health benefits of capsaicin in the future.