Cayenne Uses and Plant Monograph

Cayenne chili peppers (chilis) are some of our hottest herbal medicines! They have long been treasured for their spicy flavors and their warming and stimulating abilities.

While often referred to as peppers, chilis are not in the Piper genus (like black pepper or long pepper) but rather are a fruit from the Capsicum genus that also includes bell peppers, paprikas, and habaneros. This genus is native to the Americas and has been cultivated for at least 5,000 years. Some of the early European explorers brought the seeds from South America back to Europe, and they quickly spread around the world. Chilis are an important cultural food in many Latin American, Asian, African, and European cuisines.

The common word “chili” is often used for cayenne and other Capsicum genus plants. This word, chili, probably has roots in the Aztec language.

If we looked at cayenne in the same way, it would display much more extreme energetic qualities.

Compared to stinging nettle, cayenne is more energetically dramatic. It is one of our hottest plants, and is also quite drying.

The further an herb is toward the extremes of the hot–cold and wet–dry energetic scales, the greater tendency it has to create unwanted effects. These more intense herbs tend to be used in smaller amounts and perhaps for shorter periods of time. They are often combined in formulas, which can help offset their dramatic nature.

Can you imagine eating a bowl of nettle soup? How about a bowl of nettle soup for dinner and for lunch? Yum! Can you imagine eating an entire bowl of cayenne soup? Probably not.

You could probably eat a bowl full of cooked nettles every day for the rest of your life. Admittedly that may get boring, but it’s definitely doable. If you somehow managed to eat a bowl of cayenne peppers one day, you probably couldn’t continue that practice day after day because pretty soon unwanted effects, like upset tummy and gastric heat, would begin to occur.

Cayenne’s flavor gives us a huge hint to how the herb should be used. That’s why cayenne is usually used in food and in formulas in very small amounts — not in large quantities for extended lengths of time.

Cayenne Stimulates!

The word stimulant often invokes thoughts of coffee, tea, or cacao: herbs that contain constituents like caffeine and theobromine, which can stimulate our nervous system.

Herbal stimulants go beyond caffeine though. Simply defined, a stimulant is something that increases the energy output of a being or an organ system. Herbs can stimulate urination (stimulating diuretic), lymph flow (lymphagogues), digestion (bitters), and other body processes.

Cayenne is a warming and stimulating herb. It can increase circulation of the blood, increase mucosal secretions, and stimulate digestion. Cayenne is commonly used to increase circulation to the hands and feet for people who have chilblains (skin inflamed by repeated exposure to cold) and Reynaud’s disease (a disorder of limited circulation to the extremities).

Here’s another interesting way cayenne shows us its stimulating properties. Many people who have a stroke experience difficulty swallowing. A randomized, double-blind study on hospitalized stroke patients showed that taking capsaicin helped to stimulate and restore the ability to swallow.¹

For Stagnant and Cold Digestion

Cayenne is a potent herb for warming and stimulating digestion and is best used when there are signs of coldness and stagnation, such as bloating, food that feels stuck in the stomach, loose stools, bad breath, lack of appetite, feelings of coldness in the stomach, and a swollen tongue with a thick white coating.

People with cold and stagnant digestion have a difficult time transforming food into nutrients. They may experience fatigue due to the exhaustive energy being used to attempt digestion. They are further disadvantaged because their poor digestion leaves them lacking the nutrients needed to feel vibrant. Warming and stimulating herbs like cayenne can aid the digestion and can have an overall effect of increasing energy due to more efficient digestion and absorption of nutrients.

Herbalists have long known that cayenne, when used correctly for the individual, can support healthy digestion. There is now growing evidence that capsaicin might beneficially influence gut flora. Human clinical trials are needed to fully assess these findings.

For Healing Digestive Ulcers

Cayenne and other spicy peppers were once blamed for causing ulcers but now are accepted as a natural treatment for ulcers. Cayenne supports the health of the lining of the stomach, promotes tissue healing by bringing blood to the area, and addresses secondary imbalances (as seen in the H. pylori bacteria that are often overly abundant with ulcers). It can also block pain signals, thus relieving pain associated with ulcers.²

For Supporting Heart Health

Cayenne is a powerful ally for the heart and cardiovascular system.

In vitro studies show that cayenne may reduce platelet aggregation, which potentially reduces the risk of forming blood clots.³

Cayenne is also packed full of antioxidants. A diet high in antioxidants has been shown to decrease free radical damage to the arteries and support the healthy functioning of the entire cardiovascular system.

Can cayenne help you live longer? Maybe so! In a recent study in Italy, adults who ate chili peppers were shown to have lower mortality rates due to cardiovascular disease.⁴ Eating chilis regularly was also inversely associated with ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular death risk.

Dr. Christopher famously used cayenne to stop people from having heart attacks. His preferred method of administration was a hot tea made with one teaspoon of cayenne to one cup of water. In the Autumn 2016 Plant Healer Magazine, Matt Wood shares his experience: “In heart attack, Dr. Christopher always considered cayenne pepper to be a specific. He said he never lost a case. I have had three cases where the symptoms looked like heart attack and Capsicum (homeopathic 6x potency) relieved in all cases. This remedy works because it opens the peripheral capillaries, increases circulation to the periphery, and decreases the pressure on the heart from pooling of blood in the interior.”

For Pain Relief

Capsaicin, the hot compound in cayenne chilis, can both cause pain and block pain! While capsaicin has a bite when we eat it, it can also block pain signals in your body. It may sound counterintuitive, but capsaicin is what we call a counter-irritant: meaning that it causes irritation when you first apply it but then reduces pain by exhausting the pain signaling peptide, Substance P (SP).

Cayenne is used topically to relieve many different types of pain, including diabetic neuropathy, shingles, migraine headaches, back aches, arthritis, menstrual cramps, and other aches and pains.^5,6,7 It is also recommended to relieve postherpetic neuralgia, a pain syndrome following a shingles outbreak.⁸

For topical pain relief, use a homemade salve or store-bought product for at least 2–4 days to see results, as it takes a little while for the SP to be depleted.

For Relieving Symptoms of Colds and the Flu

Cayenne is a wonderful ally for upper respiratory infections, especially when there are symptoms of coldness and dampness. There are several symptoms that cayenne is especially well-suited for.

Stagnant Congestion

Have you ever eaten a bowl of spicy soup and then found that you needed to reach for a tissue or handkerchief? Cayenne gets things moving! For stuck mucus congestion in the lungs or sinuses, a bit of cayenne added to your food or soup can help move that stagnancy so you can breathe clearly again.

Sore Throat

Cayenne tea can relieve the pain of a sore throat and is especially indicated when there are other signs of coldness, such as chills or shivering.

Supporting the Fever Process

Fever is an important immune system function that helps us to ward off illness. Rather than trying to artificially stop a fever, we can turn to herbs to support the fever process. When there are feelings of coldness, such as chills or shivering, and a desire to snuggle into several layers of clothing and blankets, cayenne can be a powerful way to warm up the body and assist the fever in doing its job.

Prevention

Cayenne can also help to prevent a cold or flu, as well as shorten the duration of the illness. Sweating therapies, using saunas or hot baths, as well as internal medicines like cayenne, are a long-celebrated way to stop a cold in its tracks.

For Type 2 Diabetes and Gestational Diabetes

Cayenne has several known benefits for people with type 2 diabetes, including improving heart health (a known risk factor with type 2 diabetes) and modulating inflammation.

A 2016 clinical trial showed that women with gestational diabetes mellitus who ate capsaicin-containing chili showed numerous benefits, including improved postprandial blood sugar and insulin control and a lower incidence of large-for-gestational-age newborns (who are at risk for later blood sugar issues themselves).⁹

For Stopping Bleeding

Ever cut yourself while chopping food in the kitchen? Next time reach for cayenne powder to quickly and effectively stop the bleeding. Cayenne is a very effective styptic (to stop blood flow), and its antimicrobial properties can also prevent infections.

Samuel Thompson

In the herbal world, it is impossible to mention cayenne without tipping our hats to Samuel Thompson. Thompson is a figurehead in North American herbal history who lived from 1769–1843. He learned about herbs from a neighboring herbwoman and became a dedicated herbalist himself after watching his family suffer at the hands of the (admittedly crude) early medical doctors. One of his favorite and most-used herbs was cayenne.

Thompson believed that coldness in the body was a major contributing factor to disease. Steam baths and cayenne were two of his mainstays for supporting a person’s inner heat and health. He considered cayenne a stimulant above all and used it for coldness with stagnant depression and stagnant digestion.

Plant Preparations

The highest amount of the pungent capsaicin is located in the lining of the seeds and the membrane from which the seeds hang. You can decrease the heat of whole cayenne chilis by first removing the seeds and membranes.

Cayenne is a great spice for many culinary dishes. Buy the powder in small amounts because it can lose its potency fairly quickly.

Cayenne is often added in minute amounts to tincture formulas as an activator. It can warm up a formula and (because it stimulates cardiovascular function) can disperse the herbal medicine more quickly throughout the body. A tincture of cayenne or a formula including cayenne can be used as an external liniment for aches and pains.

Cayenne can be infused into oils and made into salves for topical treatments of aches and pains. When applying the oils and salves, be sure to take measures to avoid later touching your cayenne-infused fingers to your eyes (see Special Considerations below). Use topical treatments for several days before expecting to see results. Localized skin irritation is possible. If that happens stop or lessen the frequency of use until resolved.

Cayenne is often infused into vinegar as part of fire cider vinegar.

 

Dosage Suggestions

Always start low and slowly increase the amount to avoid unwanted effects.

• Tea: 1/4 tsp of powder per cup of water

• Tincture: 5–10 drops

• Capsules (powder): 1–4 grams a day

• Liniment: 1:8 tincture dilution

 

 

Special considerations

• Always start with small amounts of cayenne and then slowly increase as desired.
• Cayenne is a hot herb. Taken in large amounts over time, it could lead someone to feel hot and dry all the time. Avoid use if it increases heartburn.
• Use cautiously in someone who already has signs of heat and dryness (especially night sweats).
• Cayenne is very irritating to the eyes and sensitive skin. Avoid touching cayenne or cayenne preparations and then touching the eyes. Consider wearing gloves if preparing large amounts of cayenne.
• Cayenne should NOT be taken in large amounts during pregnancy.
• People on warfarin or other blood-thinning pharmaceuticals should talk to their doctor before using large amounts of cayenne.
  
  

Written by Rosalee de la Forêt

Rosalee de la Forêt is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She’s a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild. Explore Rosalee's website and podcast. All content and photos in this article are © Rosalee de la Forêt.