When you eat peppers, it's the capsaicin that gives you the heat. But capsaicin may do more than send you running for a cold drink -- it may have health benefits that make eating the pepper worth the burn. Hot peppers can have some unpleasant side effects, so work with them carefully, since just touching your eye or other delicate parts of your skin after touching the peppers can cause severe irritation to mucus membranes. Do not use hot peppers to treat diseases until you talk to your medical practitioner about their potential effects.
Skin Pain Relief
The same ingredient that can cause discomfort when swallowed can also relieve pain or neuropathy, numbness and tingling that can occur in diabetics as a result of blood vessel damage or in people with shingles, a herpes virus that affects the nerves. Cream made from capsaicin applied to the skin causes the skin to release Substance P, normally released during an injury. Over time, the Substance P in that area is used up and the pain or neuropathy sensations in the area decrease. Cancer patients with neuropathy or those with arthritis may also benefit from using a capsaicin cream. Benefits are usually modest, and the cream is usually used in conjunction with other treatments, according to NYU Langone.
Stomach Discomfort
Although it seems counterintuitive that the same substance that can cause burning pain may also relieve it in your stomach, eating hot peppers can deplete Substance P in your stomach as well. Since the release of Substance P simulates the burning caused by damage to the tissues without causing actual damage, the stomach eventually becomes "numb" to the discomfort. A 2002 study of 30 people with dyspepsia conducted by the University of Bologna and reported in "Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics" gave 2.5 g of cayenne pepper to half the subjects and placebo to the other 15 for two week. At the end of the study, the group receiving the pepper had a 60 percent decrease in discomfort compared to around a 30 percent decrease in the group receiving placebo.
Psoriasis
A double-blind study conducted by the University of Michigan Medical Center in 1993 found that application of topical capsaicin reduced the itching in patients with psoriasis after six weeks significantly more than placebo.
Idiopathic Rhinitis
People with idiopathic rhinitis, a runny nose without any obvious cause, may show improvement with use of an intranasal spray made with capsaicin, according to a 2009 Italian study of 208 people conducted by the San Donato Civil Hospital. Three puffs daily of 4 mcg of the nasal spray for three days significantly improved symptoms compared to people taking placebo or lesser doses of the spray.
References
- NYU Langone: Cayenne
- PubMed: The Treatment of Functional Dyspepsia with Red Pepper; M. Bortolotti et al; June 2002
- University of Michigan Health System: Seasonings
- PubMed: Intranasal Capsicum Spray in Idiopathic Rhinitis: a Randomized Prospective Application Regimen Trial; C. Ellis et al; September 1993
- PubMed:A Double-Blind Evaluation of Topical Capsaicin in Pruritic Psoriasis; P Ciabotti; April 2009
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