Flaming Hot Peppers

the healing properties of capsaicin and a recipe

Here at Leaving Death in the Dust, we like to explore alternative stories to the ones we’ve been told and have believed because we have found Hope in alternative healing stories which probably has something to do with what we choose to believe about the stories we have heard. You’ve probably heard the one about how eating spicy food can give you heartburn, but is the heartburn really a symptom of something else being out of balance in the body rather than a symptom of eating the spicy food itself? That’s a good question.

This past week we learned some more things about capsaicin that gave us Hope. I have already been using a form of it in my nasal spray since it clears out the sinuses without burning them too much. Plus, the C-vid stole my sense of smell last year and I heard that in addition to zinc lozenges, it could help restore my lost sense of smell. I can’t make any claims about its effectiveness, but my sense of smell did come back and it’s still in working order as I type this.

Capsaicin is a bit of a mystery. On one hand it can burn, irritate, and cause pain (think bear spray). On the other hand, it can relieve pain and it has potential therapeutic uses for diseases like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, cancer, airway diseases, itch, gastric, and urological disorders. Taking a quick peak at the table in the article, Application of capsaicin as a potential new therapeutic drug in human cancers, will reveal the studied anti-cancer mechanisms of capsaicin in various types of cancers.

Some of the more adventurous among us are already giddy about this hot news. For those of us who are more cautious, there is this to consider before dousing yourself in hot peppers and you can read more about that here- Capsaicin and Its Role in Chronic Diseases | SpringerLink and here- Capsaicin: A Two-Decade Systematic Review of Global Research Output and Recent Advances Against Human Cancer - PMC (nih.gov). To make a long study short, capsaicin has been shown to both cause and prevent cancer. However, people who live in Italy and eat chili peppers more than four times a week were about one-third less likely to die of heart disease than those who rarely or never ate the spicy-hot peppers. This protective benefit was evident regardless of whether people followed a Mediterranean-style diet (which is often recommended for heart health) or a less healthful diet.

So, should you eat more hot peppers? We can’t really tell you that. because-

*Leaving Death in the Dust is a newsletter and is not a replacement for professional, regulated, medical, healthcare. It is informational and educational. Some of us in this community may have worked in the healthcare system, but we are not your medical provider and whatever you find here is not the establishment of a professional medical relationship or medical advice.

If you have managed to grow a bumper crop of Napa cabbage like I did (super easy to grow) or know where to get some, eating them spicy style may or may not be good for you. You get to choose, and we can share a really good recipe we tried if you’re interested. It will not melt your mouth off unless you overdo the pepper. We recommend starting with a dash of pepper and working the amount of pepper you put in up to your own heat preference. Here is the link to the delicious recipe-

A Napa Cabbage Recipe that Will Melt in Your Mouth! - California Grown

If you would like your mouth (and other body parts) melted off, we highly recommend PuckerButt for all of your butt burning needs. We haven’t actually tried it ourselves, but we are a fan of a really good story and think that good stories are worth sharing and supporting. Apparently, butt burning peppers might help cure drug and alcohol addictions. Who knew! Plus, a bunch of church ladies came up with the PuckerButt name so, who could resist falling in love with a pepper story we haven’t even experienced for ourselves, yet? You probably think I’m making this up, but I’m not. My husband heard about it on Mike Rowe’s podcast, and hence, it has become his contribution to Leaving Death in the Dust. It’s totally worth taking the time to listen to, especially since there is also talk about hot pepper and cancer research. Here’s the link to the PuckerButt story-

The Ring of Sting with Smoking’ Ed Currie (Ep. 321) – Mike Rowe


And the link to the PuckerButt online store-

Home of the World's Hottest Pepper - Smokin' Ed's Carolina Reaper® – PuckerButt Pepper Company

The hubs also shared one of Mike Rowe’s bonus stories with me, and I’m sure that those of you who miss Paul Harvey will appreciate it. It’s only about 10 more minutes of your time, if you forward through the first 5 promotional minutes. The surprise ending will blow your mind, especially in light of what you were probably taught to think about the things he reveals! Here’s the link to that-

The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe: BONUS STORY: Braving the Elements on Apple Podcasts

Interestingly enough, Mike’s Bonus story made me think of a recent movie I watched that got me thinking about progress, health, and longevity which also made me think about how living a simple life and doing things with your hands may help you live a long, content, and disease-free life. We talked a bit about that in our article-

Dad's Healing Hands - by Stephanie Schaible (substack.com)

If you are interested in checking out the movie, the link to that is here-

Amazon.com: The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn : Sidney Poitier, Mary Louise-Parker, Dianne Wiest, Sterling Anderson, Gregg Champion, Gregg Champion, Derek Kavanagh: Prime Video

In other news, I have created a devotional section for Leaving Death in the Dust which I don’t plan on emailing out like I do for the rest of the newsletter articles. If you would like me to reconsider adding it to the email drop, your positive feedback might persuade me, especially if you are a paid subscriber. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on that via the comments or email. It just so happens that one of the devotionals is called Ezekiel’s Flaming Poop which goes right along with all the ButtPucker thoughts, and you just can’t make this stuff up so, here’s the link to that-

(The Devotional) Leaving Death in the Dust | Leaving Death in the Dust | Stephanie Schaible | Substack

Pucker Up!

Love all y’all,

Steph