Cayenne

Capsicum annuum

Also: Chili pepper, Red pepper, Capsicum

WarmingDryingTonifying

Drives heat and blood from the center out to the edges.

A bushy pepper plant with slender, glossy red fruit that burn with capsaicin. Cayenne pushes circulation out to cold hands and feet, warms a cold digestion, and, rubbed into the skin, wears down the pain signal in sore joints and nerves.

Energetics: Hot, drying, toning
Taste: Hot, pungent
Family: Solanaceae (nightshade family)
Parts used: Fruit

Medicinal uses 6

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Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Cold hands & feetTLC
Sends warmth and blood out to cold hands and feet; a pinch in food or a few drops in a formula carries the other herbs along with it.
Joint pain & arthritisTLC
Capsaicin cream, used three or four times a day, eases arthritic joints within a few weeks by using up substance P, the nerve's pain messenger.
Nerve painTLC
Capsaicin creams and patches relieve nerve pain after shingles and in diabetic neuropathy.
Bruises & sore musclesTLC
A warming liniment draws blood into bruised, sprained, and strained tissue.
Sluggish liver & digestionTLC
Wakes a poor appetite and warms a cold, slow digestion.
Colds & fluTLC
A pinch in hot ginger tea warms a chilled body and brings on a sweat at the start of a cold.

Preparations

Powder in food and drinks, drop doses of tincture, capsaicin creams, and warming liniments.

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Cautions

People sensitive to nightshades leave it out.
Wash hands well after handling peppers or creams, and keep them away from eyes, mucous membranes, and broken skin.
Large amounts can bring on heartburn and loose stools.

Medication interactions

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Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyCulinary amounts

Cooking amounts are eaten through pregnancy around the world. Strong doses can worsen pregnancy heartburn, and capsaicin creams stay away from the perineum late in pregnancy and in labor.

BreastfeedingCulinary amounts

Cooking amounts are considered compatible; spicy meals can flavor the milk.

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Folklore

Chilies were domesticated in Mexico at least six thousand years ago. Columbus, sailing for the black pepper of the Indies, called them pimientos after a spice they are not related to, and within a century Portuguese traders had carried them around Africa and Asia. In 1912 the pharmacist Wilbur Scoville measured their heat by diluting extracts until a panel of tasters could no longer feel the burn. Birds cannot feel capsaicin at all; they eat the fruit and scatter the seeds, while mammals, whose teeth would crush them, are kept away.

How to grow

A tender perennial grown as an annual. Start seed indoors on a warm mat eight to ten weeks before the last frost, and plant out once nights stay warm, in full sun and rich, well-drained soil. Pick the pods when fully red and string them up to dry.

In the wild

Its wild ancestor, the tiny chiltepin, still grows in thorn scrub and canyon bottoms from southern Arizona and Texas through Mexico into South America.

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