Cayenne Peppers can be quite spicy and can even be downright painful so it stands to reason that they would be antibacterial and also stimulating for digestion. They have been traditionally used in Eastern and Western medicine for what is known as “cold” digestion… but cayenne has three very different properties beyond this that we will cover here.

One of the first interesting and very useful things to know about cayenne is that it is used for stopping bleeding both topically and by taking it internally for wounds on the skin, including our digestive skin. Interestingly while cayenne is a circulatory stimulant it can also equalize blood pressure either way and it is thought this is how it is able to slow the flow of blood to a wound and help the blood to naturally clot there.

Many say that cayenne is a good blood coagulant and although this seems to work topically I haven’t yet seen enough evidence to make me 100% certain that this is the way it is working internally. Also it is hard to say whether it is simply sprinkling a powdery substance on the wound that is helping it in just the same way as any powdery substance would… Nonetheless so many people that I deeply trust have used cayenne in this way I would not hesitate to use it on myself should I ever find myself accident prone and in a bind. Most suggest using 1/2-1 tsp in a half cup of hot water (warning: You WILL feel this). One or two situations come to mind where this may not be the best idea such as ulcerative bowel disease and stomach or duodenal ulcers.  Ironically cayenne taken internally has been shown to improve both.

A second use for cayenne is as a delivery service for other herbs that you may be taking. you may have heard of black pepper helping turmeric to be more easily absorbed in the body. The study that I remember found curcumin was absorbed 2000 times better with the addition of black pepper… but here’s the rub: Black pepper increases the permeability of several parts of our bodies including the digestive tract and this is how it delivers herbs more effectively to the body. As long as there are no toxins, bacterial infections or actual leaky gut going on this is a great idea… but if you are dealing with candida or a bacterial imbalance you will be potentially releasing other unwanted items into your blood stream along with the herbs and constituents you were hoping for. Cayenne is remarkably good as a delivery system for herbs by increasing circulation (only works on things that can actually be absorbed prior to circulating :)) So in this case adding it to a tincture of something like curcumin will help to bring its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties to different parts of the body and will help it to be absorbed without having to go through the digestive tract (as tinctures are usually absorbed before reaching the small intestine because of the alcohol content).

Our third secret of cayenne is that it is an analgesic. And no this is not because the pain of accidentally putting cayenne in your eye is so  distracting that you forget about the other pain! Cayenne inhibits something called substance P. Substance P is a chain of 11 amino acids that was discovered in the 30s. It is thought to communicate pain throughout the nervous system. This information along with the anecdotal information of people who have actually used this for pain is comforting for me to know. I hope this inspires you to keep some dried in your herbal medicine cabinet or at least the spice cabinet. Keep it fresh, maybe even in your freezer.  Cayenne does also contain salicylic acid, the constituent in willow that inspired aspirin.

All this, a beautiful colour and a versatile condiment. Yes a girl can have it all…

As with any herb I do recommend keeping it fresh or buying in small enough amounts that you will always have a potent source on hand.

How have you used cayenne medicinally? I look forward to your comments below.