Incredible Stories About Cayenne Pepper

When I began writing this article for this site about cayenne pepper, I thought I'd have just a few stories to tell but I was wrong.

Since I created this site, I've been emailed by many people around the world touting cayenne pepper and sharing their stories about its usage.

This has been very gratifying for there is no better way to spread the word about something than word of mouth.

Let me share just a few stories that I've come across in my research of cayenne pepper. There are many stories from 19th century America but there are just as many now. I'll try to include a cross section of as many eras as possible.

Before I start, why am I writing this article? Because I'm hoping you will be persuaded to at least give cayenne a try. Add it to your health regiment and watch what happens.

My Story

I didn't start off having a lot of faith in doctors. I've been studying cayenne and medicinal herbs for over 25 years due to that. Growing up, my mother was always sick and our medicine cabinet at home looked like a pharmacy. When I was 7 1/2, I stepped on a nail by my friend's house and had to go to the doctor for a tetanous shot.

I still remember the piercing pain as he stuck the needle deep into the wound. I let out a howl heard three states away.

Actually my distrust started even earlier toward doctors. When I was five, our family doctor's name was, and I kid you not, Dr. Bloody! Not the most auspicious name for a doctor! I still remember the shots he gave me and his cold, unfeeling manner. How I hated going to the doctor!

Needless to say, not all doctors are bad. I know that. Most are good, decent people. Their problem as a collective group is that they are close minded regarding alternative medicine, herbs included. Anyway, one year ago as of this writing (July 2009), I had some pictures taken of me with my shirt off by a friend so as to motivate me to start exercising again. 

I weighed 188 pounds. I was carrying at least 25 pounds more than my somatic frame needed. I was disgusted and began a regime of long-distance running twice a week. When I started, my cholesterol was 215, and my systolic and diastolic was 125/85 or so. My resting pulse was 72. Not bad but not great.

It was hard at first but I kept at it. In eight months, without really watching my diet closely, I dropped 20 pounds and my blood pressure went to 118 to 120 systolic to 80 to 76 diastolic. My resting pulse went down to 54 and was as low as 50 occasionally. I've taken cayenne periodically throughout my life but a while back, I decided I needed to put my money where my mouth was and to take cayenne daily or at least three times a week. While I've known about cayenne for years, I've never enjoyed drinking it. Of course, I didn't start out right way back 20 years ago. I started by taking a full teaspoon at a time! That was ill advised. When I scaled it back, things went much better.

Last month, I checked my blood pressure and it was 107/70 with a resting pulse of 48. My cholesterol dropped to 175 too. I just checked it literally a minute ago on my LifeSource digital blood pressure monitor and it is 105/71 with a resting pulse of 49. I recommend the LifeSource blood pressure monitor. It works great and it's convenient.

The only change I made was taking cayenne either daily or bi-daily. It cleared up a hemorrhoid problem I had too. It's not pleasant to talk about the scatological, but folks, cayenne pepper works. It literally cured the swollen hemorroids, removing the itchiness and the bleeding in only two days! I'm not exaggerating. Everything went back to normal down there. I have improved my diet too since then but capsicum worked in only two days.

It's not pleasant to drink but it works. It's a small price to pay for so many magnificient health benefits.

Another Cayenne Pepper Story

Cayenne Pepper Heals Frostbite Harmed Flesh

This story comes from 19th century Utah as reported in a Spring 2006 article in Currents, a quarterly publication of the Utah Division of State History (a relative sent it to me). The article is titled, The Split Frog Cure & Other Curiosities of Pioneer Medicine.

A person by the name of Priddy Meeks was an herbalist doctor in the Thompson tradition who left lengthy autobiography and journal entries regarding the marvelous curative power of plants and other herbs. Dr. Meeks, the articles says, swore by lobelia and cayenne pepper as "miracle herbs."

Let me recount the story as written by Priddy Meeks.

There was a teamster with Colonel Johnston's army by the name of James McCann, a young man, started to go back to the states by way of California. He reached Parowan, Utah with both feet frozen above his ankles. He was left with me to have both feet amputated as it was thought there was no possible chance to save his life without amputation. I was at my wit's end to know what to do. I saw no possible chance for amputation. An impulse seemed to strike my mind as though by inspiration that I would give him cayenne pepper inwardly and see what effect that would have on the frozen feet. I commenced by giving him rather small doses at first, about three times a day. It increased the warmth and power of action in the blood to such a degree that it gave him such pain and misery in his legs that he could not bear it.

He lay down on his back and elevated his feet up against the wall for three or four days and then he could sit up in a chair. The frozen flesh would rot and rope down from his foot when it would be on his knee, clear down to the floor, just like a buckwheat batter, and the new flesh would get out of the way. In fact, the new flesh would seem to crowd the dead flesh out of the way to make room for the new flesh. That was all the medical treatment he had and to my astonishment and to every one else that knew of the circumstances, the sixteenth day after I gave him the first dose of cayenne pepper he walked nine miles, or from Parowan to Red creek and back, and said that he could have walked as far again. He lost but five toe nails all told. Now the healing power of nature is in the blood and to accelerate the blood is to accelerate the healing power of nature and I am convinced that there is nothing will do this like cayenne pepper; you will find it applicable in all cases of sickness.

(The sources of this article are the Utah Historical Quarterly, A History of Kane County, and Heart Throbs of the West, vol. 7 as published in Currents, Spring of 2006.)

Quite amazing, isn't it?

Cayenne Pepper Cured a Man's Hemorrhoids

I had a gentlemen email me recently telling me how cayenne cured his hemorrhoids and a stomach ulcer. He'd had especially virulent hemorrhoids and within a week, they were gone. His stomach ulcer went away too.

Cayenne Helped Relieve Migraine Headache Suffer

While touting the health benefits of cayenne pepper to a relative, my relative asked me if cayenne would work for her migraines (this was before I discovered an herbal cure for migraines). I said cayenne immediately equalizes the blood pressure in the system when drank and as blood pressure was a part, not the only thing, but a part of migraine problems, it couldn't hurt to try. She reported that cayenne took her migraines away quite consistently and significantly diminished their severity when she did get them.

Dr. John R. Christopher Cayenne Story

When a young man in his thirties, Dr. John R. Christopher was told by doctors he would not live past his fortieth year as he had severe arthritis, stomach ulcers, and hardening of the arteries. Plus, a few car accidents had damaged him badly. He started using cayenne pepper and actually worked up to a teaspoon taken three times a day! (And I thought I was cool taking it once daily!) Just a few short years later, when he was forty-five years old, he was in a business with a group that wanted him to have a $100,000 insurance policy due to his involvement and importance with a particular business deal he was involved in at the time.

Cayenne Pepper Lowers Blood Pressure

While getting a physical, Dr. Christopher had a doctor tell him he had the venous structure of a teenage boy while at the age of forty-five years young. The doctor kept repeating the blood pressure check over and over again as he couldn't believe it. Dr. Christopher began to be perturbed, and asked him if the equipment was broken. The doctor told him his systolic over your diastolic was absolutely perfect. The doctor exclaimed, "I cannot comprehend it.” Dr. Christopher told him it was because of his constant usage of wonderful herb cayenne pepper and a healthy, mucus-free diet.

Interesting Cayenne Pepper Research Study

Many years ago, there was an experiment conducted on cayenne that was printed in various medical journals. Medical researchers put some live heart tissue in a beaker filled with distilled water. (Whether it was human or non-human heart tissue I do not know.) They fed it only cayenne pepper.

They were required to clean off sediments that would build up, or waste, but that was all. They did periodically replace the distilled water as well. As the experiment progressed, they were obligated to trim the heart tissue of its extra growth as it would grow so quickly. This experiment was continued for 15 years.

The doctor who originated the experiment died and his associate researches were obligated to continue the experiment, which they did for two more years before ending the experiment and destroying the heart tissue. This experiment validates what medicinal herbalists have been saying for years that cayenne is incredible for the heart.

Dr. Christopher's Introduction to Cayenne

One thing that is interesting and it may be to you too is that Dr. Christopher himself needed to be converted to the virtues of cayenne pepper. When he was attending the Herbal College in Canada, which I believe is now defunct, the professor said that the class was now going to study cayenne pepper. “Why cayenne pepper?” asked Dr. Christopher. “It will burn the lining out of the stomach.”

The teacher, one Dr. Nowell, asked nonplussed, “Where did you get your information?”   “My mother told me,” answered Dr. Christopher.

Everybody laughed. Dr. Nowell and John Christopher didn't. According to Dr. Christopher's own record, Dr. Nowell took him around Vancouver introducing him to over a dozen people whose lives had been saved with the wonderful herb known as cayenne pepper. He met people with heart troubles, asthma, ulcers, and many other ailments that cayenne had cured. Wherever they went, numerous people were full of gratitude for being helped and taught about cayenne. From that point forward to the end of his life in Feb. 1983, Dr. Christopher was sold on this nondescript herb and took it thrice daily.

Cayenne Saves a Boy Shot In The Stomach

The story goes that a child was shot in the abdomen with the bullet hitting the spine, and made a second wound leaving the body. One of Dr. Christopher's herbal students was living next door to the child and heard the shot. Neither parent was home and that the children, ages eight and four, would not be shooting guns.

What she say next horrified her. She saw the eight-year-old gushing blood out of the entry and exit wounds. She hastily retrieved cayenne and mixed a hefty tablespoonful in a glass of water. The poured it down the boy's throat then called for an ambulance. The emergency room attendant told the student that the young boy would most likely bleed to death, as the ambulance was 18 miles or so away.

The ambulance arrived and rushed the child to the hospital. When he arrived, everyone was astonished as the bleeding had stopped and he was talking and was coherent. In fact, the bleeding had stopped before the ambulance arrived at the hospital.

The emergeycy doctor told the boy's parents the following, “I have seen many accident victims in my life, but this is the first time in such an emergency operation that I have opened an abdomen to find no blood, except for a small amount that was there before the bleeding stopped so quickly. This has saved your boy's life.”

According to his writings, in that same year, Dr. Christopher treated four other gunshot victims. What happens is that while each case responded was essentially the same, occasionally the blood will coagulate and come out in clumps before it will completely stop. 

According to the late Dr. Christopher, "By the time you count to ten, the heavy bleeding should stop completely after administering cayenne pepper." He would use a tincture on the open wounds as well.

Cayenne Pepper Heals Ulcers

The next Christopher story may be the best ulcer story you've ever heard. For years, a certain lady had been interested in Dr. Christopher's ideas on herbal medicine. This woman, while a believer in alternative medicine, had a husband who was not only anti-herbal medicine but would actually mock it and Dr. Christopher. Whenever he saw Dr. Christopher on the street, he would ask him sarcastically if he had killed anybody with his treatments. Dr. Christopher avoided him and would go on his way. This persecutor suffered from a severe case of stomach ulcers that the doctors couldn't do anything about. In fact, this man's doctor recommended removing part of the man's stomach, but he refused.

According to the man himself, he came home from work one night so ill and in so much pain from his stomach ulcers that he felt he couldn't take it anymore and wanted to die. As his wife was not home, he decided to commit suicide due to the pain.

He thought an overdose of pills would do the job but upon looking in the bathroom medicine cabinet he found no pills. What was in the cabinet were bottles of various herbs and a container of cayenne pepper.

As he totally discounted cayenne and any medicinal herb, he thought cayenne was so hot that a large enough dose would kill him. He took a massive, heaping tablespoon of cayenne pepper in a glass of hot water, drank it and went into the bedroom and laid on the bed with a pillow over his head so his neighbors couldn't hear him scream and thus stop his suicide attempt.

Well, what happened next? He fell asleep and the next thing he knew, his wife was shaking him to wake up the next morning. He had slept through the night -- the first time in years -- and the stomach pain was gone. As he became "converted" to cayenne, he took it religiously three times a day and never had any more stomach ulcers. He approached Dr. Christopher on the street one day not to mock him as before but to this time thank him for telling his wife about the wonderful herb known as cayenne pepper.

This man used to have to wake up numerous times in the morning taking anti-acid pills as his ulcers were so bad. For years he never had a full night's sleep due to this regime. Once he started using cayenne, he could sleep normally again. I wonder what his doctor felt after losing him as a patient!

Cayenne Pepper Stops Heart Attacks

Probably the greatest claim to fame that cayenne has is its ability to immediately arrest a heart attack. This is quite an incredible claim, I know. One night, Dr. C. received a call from a patient of his. This woman's husband had fainted from a heart attack. Dr. C. told her get some warm water and miss a teaspoon of cayenne pepper in the water, which she did. The woman propped up her husband and gave him a little. Upon being revived, he finished the cup of the cayenne pepper tea and within minutes was revived. He too became converted to herbs and even eventually ran a health food store.

Cayenne Great for Wounds and Cuts

Capsicum is great for emergency situations as this following story will also attest. A young man had cut his hand and fingers very badly. The cuts were so deep that the blood was literally spurting out. The boy put a large quantity of cayenne into the wound and within seconds the bleeding slowed, then congealed and then stopped. (I've seen this in action myself when I cut myself with a knife in the kitchen.) Later, while at a lecture with Dr. C., he unwrapped the bandage to show the audience the scar, but there was none. The cut had been completely healed.

Blood Pressure Problems? Cayenne to The Rescue

Are you over 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 and want to lower your blood pressure? Take cayenne. At the age of 75, Dr. Christopher had his blood pressure checked in front of a large audience by a traditionally trained medical doctor. His systolic and diastolic was that of a young man. Cayenne wasn't the only reason as Dr. C. followed a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and grains, but cayenne was his staple. My blood pressure has significantly lowered too since regularly taking capsicum so I believe this story.

Cayenne Pepper Helps a Man's Heart Palpitations and Arrythmia

One gentlemen wrote that he's been using capsicum pepper for several months for his heart arrythmia. He testifies that his heart rate goes back to normal in literally less than a minute. He says he uses a 1/2 teaspoon in warm water, and drinks less than a cup. (He's a brave soul!) Furthermore, he says he's tried many traditional cures and all natural cures, but never has had one work so quickly and so well. He also says, "The Phamaceutical companies will probably try to get this miracle cure declared illegal!" He's right, I'm sad to say. Pharmaceutical drug companies stand to lose literally billiions of dollars if people knew about cayenne.

Cayenne Pepper Helps Man With Athlete's Foot

A man wrote me complaining about his athlete's foot and related the story of how a couple of years ago he was persuaded by a family friend to try cayenne. He thought it absurd but as everything else he had tried didn't work, he decided to give it a try. He put cayenne in a little bit of salt water and immersed a gauze pad in it and taped it to his toe regions where the athlete's foot was. It cured it and the athlete's foot hasn't returned, he said. He's now a believer in cayenne and says he takes a couple capsules a day (he won't drink it, though!).

Cayenne Pepper & Candida Story

A lady from Bozeman, Montana emailed me to tell me about how cayenne took away her candida problem. Candida is quite common and she mentioned she tried everything. She did a Web search a few years ago and read something on the marvelous properties of cayenne. Then, she said, a couple of days later, her uncle called her and recommended cayenne pepper as it had helped cure and mitigate an ulcer he had developed. "That was a coincidence, I thought, and to me that was confirmation from something that I was on the right track." She started taking cayenne and it cleared it up. She also started a colon cleanse and has since done a kidney cleanse too.

Cayenne Pepper and Weight Loss

About five months ago, a man from Naperville, Illinois emailed me telling me he had read an article about cayenne pepper while on his business trip to Atlanta, Georgia. The article said cayenne would help with improving energy and weight loss. He was intrigued. He started taking a few capsules at a time and says he has more energy than before he takes it and that it has had an equalizing effect on his whole system. He's still using it and combined with aerobic exercise has lost about 15 pounds (the aerobic exercise has a lot to do with that, not just cayenne).

Cayenne Great for Sore Throats

Joakim from White Plains, New York wrote me telling me how he gargles with cayenne when he get's a sore throat or feels the flu coming on. He says it cleans out the bad bacteria and leaves him feeling better and free of the whooping cough. He even has his young children doing it when they get "the sniffles." He has also tried cayenne on the wounds, cuts and bruises his kids get and when he puts it on the kids cuts, he says they don't complain but tell him, "the red stuff makes it feel warm and it doesn't hurt Daddy."

Cayenne and Circulation

I had a gentlemen email me from northern California a few months back. He has had severe circulation problems and upon taking cayenne he said his extremities now have normal circulation and are naturally warm. He did this, by the way, with normal grocery store-bought cayenne pepper powder. I don't recommend store-bought cayenne as it's most likely irradiated. Get organic cayenne -- if you decide to try it that is.

Hope you found these stories interesting. There will be more to come.

Yours in health,
CayennePepper.info