Everyone is familiar with the burning feeling of the tongue, lips, and mouth from the consumptions of peppers of all varieties (belonging to the genus Capsicum). This is a sensation which people can all tolerate to varying degrees, but the consumption of capsacin has undeniable health benefits.

There is evidence that capsacin was originally developed by plants as a fungal grown inhibitor, though it has had the dual benefit of being a deterrent of the consumption of peppers by mammals, whose digestive tract will sterilize the pepper seeds.

There are MANY varieties of peppers, from the mildest Bell Peppers (Capiscum Annuum) to the worlds hottest peppers, the Bhut Jolokia (Capiscum Frutescens). All of these peppers produce capsacin to varying degrees. A good indicator of the level of capsacin the the heat level of the pepper. A bell pepper has a Scoville Rating of 0, which means it is not hot...at all. It has so little capsacin it is barely measurable. Your average jalapeño has a SR of about 10,000, and the worlds hottest pepper, has a rating of over 1,000,000 heat units.

The Bhut Jolokia holds the Guinness Record for the hottest pepper. It originated from the Manpur region of India, where it is used as both a folk remedy for illness, and as an elephant repellent (forget keeping deer away...they keep ELEPHANTS from knocking over fences with this stuff). It is simply rubbed on the rails of the fences. When the elephant attempts to dismantle the fence, it is burnt by the oil of the peppers.

Capsacin has been shown to have the following benefits:

• Capsaicin was shown, in laboratory settings, to cause cancer cell death in rats.

• Recent research in mice shows that chili (capsaicin in particular) may offer some hope of weight loss for people suffering from obesity.

• Researchers used capsacin from chilies to kill nerve cells in the pancreases of mice with Type 1 diabetes, thus allowing the insulin producing cells to start producing insulin again.

• Research in humans found that "after adding chili to the diet, the LDL, or bad cholesterol, actually resisted oxidation for a longer period of time, (delaying) the development of a major risk for cardiovascular disease".

• Researchers found that the amount of insulin required to lower blood sugar after a meal is reduced if the meal contains chili pepper.

• Chili peppers are being probed as a treatment for alleviating chronic pain.

• By combining an anesthetic with capsacin, researchers can block pain in rat paws without causing temporary paralysis. This anesthetic may one day allow patients to be conscious during surgery and may also lead to the development of more effective chronic pain treatments.

I believe that a very important part of being conscious of the world around us, is growing of your own home garden. This relieves the burden of supply from our infrastructure, as well as gives us a closer connection to the earth in general. In this modern age we have forgotten to listen to the planet, and gardening is a great way to reconnect. In the spirit of that, come springtime, I will have seedling of many different pepper and tomato plants I can make available. All of the plants I grow are heirlooms, so you can save the seeds for next year.

Jason Brink
Jason's Professional Graphics
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Some of the information from this little segment came from wikipedia article on capsacin .