The Blazing benefits of Hot Sauce

Found an interesting article from the Walgreens website for all you

 Hot Sauce lovers 

After years of trials and research, capsaicin, the spicy compound found in chili peppers and the key to making hot sauces ‘hot,’ has been widely used to relieve all kinds of diseases and ailments. 

But can this burnin’ hot compound really burn fat? Cure cancer? Ease pain? Here’s what we currently know about the potential health benefits of the active components in spicy sauce.

How does Capsaicin Relieve Pain?

Capsaicin is used to relieve joint pain for people with arthritis or fibromyalgia; nerve pain from shingles, diabetes or other skin conditions; and all kinds of muscle or back pain. Here’s how it works—when you apply capsaicin to your skin, it can reduce the chemical substance P, the chemical that delivers pain signals to your brain. Less substance P means less pain messages reaching your brain, which can help relieve the sensation of pain.

Can it Help You Lose Weight?

You can help burn calories by working up a sweat at the gym, but what about while you eat? According to findings based on a study in mice, capsicum could stimulate thermogenesis—the process that helps your body burn calories. If this is true for humans, this discovery has the potential help to prevent and manage obesity and other complications such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. But don’t start popping peppers in place of a nutritious diet; this theory has not yet been demonstrated or proven in enough carefully-controlled clinical trials to be considered fact.

How About Capsaicin Preventing Cancer?

There have been many studies on chili peppers ability to fight off cancer cells in many cancer-affected organs. In 2006, a study found that capsaicin can cause prostate cancer cells in mice to die while leaving healthy cells alone. In another study, published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry, found that the capsaicin binds to the surface of cancer cells and affects the membrane that surrounds and protects it.  

Does Eating Capsaicin Lengthen Your Lifespan?

Spice up your diet and you just might live longer. In a recent study, researchers from the University of Vermont observed more than 16,000 people in the U.S. for nearly 20 years and found that individuals who consumed red chili peppers reduced their risk of death by about 13 percent. Another study published in the British Medical Journal also found a link between regular consumption of spicy foods and a reduced mortality rate. While the available data suggested chili pepper consumption was most strongly associated with reducing the risk of heart disease or stroke, researchers are still unable to pinpoint the exact reason why pepper-eaters reduced their mortality rate within this study. Further examination is needed, but these studies suggest there could potentially be a link to chili peppers and a longer, healthier life.

Sources:

1  University of Maryland Medical Center http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/cayenne

2 http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=7414018f-3f3d-4983-9074-59d905670698&cKey=260298d9-0e86-472c-b48e-2bd7968621ca&mKey=50056dd1-4b44-4f4a-b685-b88d00f3529b#