Oooohh...It is getting hot in here. Red hot. Red hot pepper that is. I am talking about cayenne pepper. This spice is hot right now for so many reasons - here are just five.

  1. Cayenne is made from ground dried pods of chili peppers. It has hardly any aroma, but makes up for its lack of smell with a powerfully hot taste. The active ingredient in cayenne is capsaicin and it this component that created the heat in peppers.
  2. Recent studies indicate that capsaicin, the chili pepper derived compound, kills cancer cells but doesn't injure healthy cells. It is too soon to recommend capsaicin as a cancer cure, it is promising to think it could someday replace current cancer therapies which indiscriminately kill all cells, healthy or damaged.
  3. Cayenne has proven to be an affective topical pain reliever for sore back muscles as well as joint pain caused by arthritis. You can make a treatment at home using this recipe.
  4. Cayenne may also help to regulate blood sugar levels by affecting the breakdown of carbohydrates after a meal. Based on these studies, capsaicin is being investigated to see if it would be useful in treating obesity. These studies, however, are still ongoing.
  5. A principal ingredient in the Master Cleanse and in other food based detox diets, cayenne helps stimulate the body's self cleaning process and breaks up mucous that is clogging the body. And I mean mucous all over the body.

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