Even more interesting, Cayenne is a cleanser of the cardio-vascular system. In the horse-and-buggy days of the medical profession (I found this information in an old herbalist book from the last century), a doctor might arrive at a farm to find someone in the midst of a heart attack. He would use cayenne to stop the heart attack, by putting about a teaspoon of cayenne pepper into a glass of water and pouring it down the invalid’s throat. Cayenne begins to work at the extremities – toes, fingers – hands, feet – arms, legs – DILATING the blood vessels, that is opening them up to increase blood flow but WITHOUT increasing blood pressure. The effect continues until it reaches the HEART, which after the whole circulatory system has been opened and cleared, is then itself opened and cleared by dilation. I have taken cayenne in water when I had no capsules (don’t do it unless you really need to!) and I found that adding a drop of lemon juice to the water prevents the pepper from clumping and helps to distribute it more evenly in the water.

A girlfriend at my new job was a regular sufferer of very bad migraines. I had read that migraines could be caused by constriction of the cerebral blood vessels. I told her about cayenne, which in those days, I carried with me in the form of plain gelatin capsules filled with the cayenne pepper, size “0″ capsules that I would buy in the health food store, and fill myself. Much cheaper than buying pre-made cayenne capsules. She was in the middle of a bad migraine, so she took a couple of my capsules. 20 minutes later, her migraine was gone. She said normally, when the migraines started, they would last two days. So, it’s very possible the cayenne stopped her migraine.

I took one or two capsules before each meal, 3 times a day, for about 6 months, to treat my hip and arthritic pain. The side benefit was a real good, clear and pumping cardiovascular system. The trick is to protect your stomach by eating a few bites of your meal first, then take the capsules, and finish your meal. About 20 minutes later, you’ll get a warm sensation coming up, it’s not unpleasant, and the treatment is purely natural and gives you great circulation, more energy, and pain-free joints.

I recommend that anyone interested in good health should add a THIRD shaker to their kitchen table, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. You don’t need to take large amounts in gulps to get it into your system, you can sprinkle a few grains that you barely taste on everything you eat, every day, to keep the cayenne going in, and you have enormous health benefits.

It’s important to note that this is cayenne, from the African Bird Pepper, NOT paprika, they are not the same thing.