Recent medical research has disclosed a fact of which herbalists have long been aware: that the ingredient in chilli peppers that makes them taste hot can reduce your blood pressure. Actually, the research was on genetically hypertensive rats but herbalists as well as the thousands of loyal users know that chilli pepper compounds, also known as cayenne peppers are extremely beneficial for humans too and there are hundreds of products based on cayenne peppers, produced for that very purpose and are standard stock for good herbal remedy suppliers.
The recent research (announced August 2010) shows that long-term dietary consumption of capsaicin, one of the most abundant constituents in chilli peppers, when used on the poor rats, produced a reduction in blood pressure. It is worth mentioning that this research was carried out in China, possibly one of the longest established cultures to have used herbal remedies, making the affair a touch bizarre. The Chinese culture and their use of herbal remedies is thousands of years old and only now has the research been carried out! The predominance of raised blood pressure levels has been found to exceed 20% in north-eastern China as opposed to 10-14% in south-western China. The latter region is known as one where people like to eat hot and spicy foods, prepared with a lot of chilli peppers.
For those who want to know the technical ins and outs, it is apparently the activation of the receptor channel found in the lining of blood vessels that leads to a rise in production of nitric oxide, a gaseous molecule known to protect blood vessels against inflammation and dysfunction. Well, we knew it worked. Now we know why!
This was not the first round of research to look for a proven link between lower blood pressure and capsaicin but it is understood that earlier research has been focussed on the acute or short-term exposure to the chemical capsaicin, rather than long-term treatment with it. We must also reiterate that this research was carried out in China on rats with hypertension.
Further work is apparently needed to confirm the results in humans, which in a way we find midly amusing if not tragic, given that the effect of capsaicin has been known by herbalists for ages and the poor rats could have avoided their involuntary participation in the research! We’re dealing with peppers here folks; not some newly discovered potentially deadly substance! There are millions of willing humans available so why pick on the rat, only to have to repeat it all later on humans!
Still, it is gratifying when science comes along and proves what some had previously regarded as old wives’ tales!
So, if you were considering a cayenne pepper diet or perhaps have just learned how beneficial capsaicin can be, there are many more benefits that can be derived from a chilli pepper and cayenne pepper preparations, far too many to list here The capsaicin effect is an exciting concept; recommended reading for everyone and certainly if like me, you like your chilli peppers!
A semi-retired professional of age 62, now with the freedom to work at occupations I really like, I write about what interests me and apply the same critera to the sites I operate.http://www.bloodpressureconcern.com is one such site, which I have been developing for personal reasons as much as others. Three years ago, I underwent a full cardiac investigation and two years ago, my wife sustained a heart attack. Increasingly, much of the content on the site has come from the heart – excuse the irresistable pun.http://www.bloodpressureconcern.com genuinely aspires to be of benefit to those who have blood pressure concerns and cardiac concerns generally.
