If you’ve ever seen the Snopes article about taking a spoonful of cayenne pepper to stop a heart attack in its tracks … well this can certainly make you think twice about its power to save someone’s life. Turns out it’s not so far fetched to consider the consumption of cayenne pepper as a preventative measure during the onset of a heart attack. In theory it is quite plausible, and we’ll discuss why below.
Regardless of its truth or fiction, one thing is for sure: Due to the heat intensity produced by the active ingredient Capsaicin, Cayenne pepper packs quite the punch of spicy peppery heat!
Whether using in spicy food dishes raw or cooked, or taken regularly as organic supplement like the capsules offered by Pure Mountain Botanicals, Cayenne pepper can improve well-being in more ways than one. Yes, one of the lesser-known ways is that Capsaicin also happens to be the very ingredient found in pepper sprays for self-defense products.
As mentioned, Capsaicin is the common denominator for the production of heat. The Scoville Rating Chart shows the scale of heat units produced based on the Scoville rating, showing a giant list of peppers ranked by heat units.
On the extreme high end, we have pure Capsaicin and Dihydrocapsaicin at number one with a scalding hot rating of 16 million heat units. Look down the list some more and you’ll see police grade pepper spray at around 5.3 million, traditional Habaneros around 100,000 to 350,000 units, and Cayenne pepper averaging about 30,000-50,000 units. Although Cayenne pepper it can reach as high as 190,000 depending on its grade.
What else do we know about this super spice? We know that Cayenne has the ability to burn away free radicals in the body and prevent illness. Health benefits found in a study by the University of Maryland prove how it can treat illness directly, and how Capsaicin creams help conditions such as Shingles, Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, and Psoriasis.
The magazine NaturalHealth365 also notes that Cayenne pepper is rich in carotenoids and antioxidants, helping to lower LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and further prevents coagulation of the blood. This last point helps explain why it’s such an effective remedy for preventing blood clots and stroke.
With the increase in blood flow, Cayenne also allows for greater increase in energy levels of the body. Many Reiki practitioners can benefit from improved circulation in both their patients as well as improving their own abilities as a practitioner.
As per The Reiki Village, the hands are central to Reiki practice, generating a source of heat from the hands when focusing on various areas of the patient. The circulation boost increases the potency of energy work and will boost effectiveness on the Reiki patients accordingly. You can read all about Reiki practices in depth over at reikivillage.blogspot.com.
