Self Help

Red Pepper is also known as: Hot pepper, cayenne chili pepper, African pepper, capsicum; green and red bell pepper, paprika, and pimiento. The fiery taste and bright color of red pepper make it one of the world’s most noticeable spices. Recently, this herb has become as hot in healing as it is on the tongue. Extracts of red pepper have proved remarkably effective at relieving certain types of severe, chronic pain. It also may aid digestion.

Although it’s been a culinary staple in Asia since ancient times, it was unknown in Europe until Columbus returned with it from his first voyage to the New World. 17th century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote that immoderate use of red pepper “inflames the mouth and throat so extremely it is hard to endure,” and warned it “might prove dangerous to life.” But when used sparingly, he claimed that the herb was of “considerable service” to “help digestion, provoke urine, relieve toothache, preserve the teeth from rottenness, comfort a cold stomach, expel the stone from the kidney, and take away dimness of sight.”

During the 18th century, red pepper was mixed with snuff to boost the inhaled tobacco’s kick. Herbalist Phillip Miller warned against this, saying the combination caused “such violent fits of sneezing as to break the blood vessels in the head.”

In India, the East Indies, Africa, Mexico, and the Carribean, red pepper enjoys a long history as a digestive aid. But this use never caught on among Europeans, who have traditionally believed that hot spices cause stomach ulcers.

The first North American to advocate red pepper in healing was Samuel Thomson, creator of Thomsonian herbal medicine, which enjoyed considerable popularity before the Civil War. Thomson believed most disease was caused by cold and cured by heat, so he prescribed “warming” herbs extensively, and red pepper was chief among them.

After the Civil War, many physicians called red pepper capsicum and recommended it externally for arthritis and muscle soreness and internally as a digestive stimulant and treatment for colds, cough, fever, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, and toothache. Physicians also advised adding red pepper to socks to treat cold feet, a use echoed in some herbals today.

Many physicians considered red pepper invaluable in the treatment of delirium tremens, the combination of hallucinations and violent tremors common among advanced alcoholics: Capsicum is an excellent agent that can be used in delirium tremens. It enables the stomach to take and retain food. The best form is in a tea or strong beef soup. There is no danger of overdose as a large quantity may be swallowed and without ill results.

American folk healers have also recommended dusting children’s hands with powdered red pepper to stop thumb sucking and nail biting. Contemporary herbalists prescribe capsules of cayenne powder for colds, gastrointestinal and bowel problems, and as a digestive aid. Externally, they recommend cayenne plasters for arthritis and muscle soreness.