These Are My JOTtings...

Beating the Yellow Cloud with Red Cayenne Pepper

According to the Global Healing Center, the second health benefit from cayenne pepper is that it "Clears Congestion. (Are you) suffering from stuffed up sinuses due to cold, flu, or allergies? Cayenne pepper aids in breaking up and moving congested mucus."
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/benefits-of-cayenne-pepper/

According to Dr. Axe, the tenth health benefit of cayenne pepper is that it "Fights Cold and Flu. Cayenne pepper benefits include being full of beta carotene and antioxidants that support your immune system. It aids in breaking up and moving congested mucus, and once this nasty mucus leaves the body, the symptoms of the flu or cold will diminish. Besides helping you beat a cold or flu, cayenne pepper also raises your body temperature, which makes you sweat and increases the activity of your immune system. As a vitamin C food...cayenne pepper will also help you to kick that nasty cold."
https://draxe.com/cayenne-pepper-benefits/

Even Reader's Digest claims that cayenne pepper can "Unclog a stuffy nose...Capsaicin is a powerful decongestant. It stimulates the release of mucus from respiratory passages and opens your airways. Sprinkle it on food (it pairs surprisingly well with chicken noodle soup) and grab some tissues."
http://www.rd.com/health/conditions/health-benefits-cayenne-pepper/

Though this in itself is not proof that cayenne pepper cures the common cold or the flu, but it certainly does make an impressive triangulation of voices that a saying the same things.

The thought came to me last night in the middle of the night before I read these articles. I was tired and sleepy and I just wanted some relief. "Try cayenne pepper to fight the sneezing you've been experiencing lately." The Lord should know, since He made the peppers. I have learned to trust the impressions of His "still, small voice." (I Kings 19:12)

Since about 2:00 AM yesterday morning (local time,) I have ingested cayenne pepper in various forms nearly ten times in meals and snacks and supplements. Though I'm not totally well yet, my usage of tissues is down to less than half of what I used the day before I began with the cayenne pepper.

Is it a miracle cure? I don't have the scientific testing to go that far, nor can I state that plainly because the United States Food & Drug Administration has not given me permission to express this hunch, unequivocally.

Admittedly, I am not a qualified scientist nor have I been using cayenne pepper, exclusively. Therefore, the argument can be made, "How do you know that cayenne pepper is curing your pollen-related sneezing, especially if you are taking other things along with the cayenne pepper for the treatment of your sneezing?" The truth is that I can't.

I can only say that the first dosage of cayenne pepper in the middle of the night "seemed" to stanch the flow of nasal fluids to some degree, almost instantly. But the benefit was only temporary.

Cayenne Pepper is merely one of half a dozen or ten different homeopathic treatments, including water, that have been used to flush my system of pollen-related toxins.

Maybe it is my male ego that wants cayenne pepper to be my "miracle cure" so I can be like one of those tough guys that drinks hot sauce straight from the bottle.

At this point if there's even an outside chance that cayenne pepper can be helping my sneezing fits to the degree of only 10% of the overall effectiveness, then I don't want to stop what I'm doing, until I'm totally cured. I have a play to perform next week and I need all my faculties at or near 100%.

It took eleven guys on the field at all times to create the Miami Dolphins Perfect Season in 1972. No player did that by himself. If cayenne pepper is only one of eleven players, then I am more than happy to keep him on the team.

Good Health, Everyone! (If you live in Arizona or West Texas, then please don't rub it in. If I have to live the last three days many more times, then I would be willing to inquire of a real estate agent in your region of the U.S.)

by Jay O'Toole
on March 29th, 2017