Hippie Dippy Banter from Episode, All Things Green? Gardens!

 

Hello everyone! We hope all are well and that each of you have started your week renewed and full of the energy you need! Welcome to our first blog post with the Hippie Dippy theme! We're excited to explore our world with you and learn new things! Today's post is about Cayenne, aka chili/ pepper! Some of this may sound familiar from last week's episode and that is because we are taking the topic from the audio and expounding upon it here! So with that, here is Cayenne, ENJOY!

CAYENNE

Breaking Cayenne down. It is known in the botanical world as capsicum annuum/ capsicum frutescen. It is described as hot, spicy/pungent, herb, chili, chili pepper, and in the family of Solanaceae (Nightshade). 

So, why is this a big deal, you may be asking? Well, Cayenne has an active ingredient known as capsaicin (look familiar? capsicum vs. capsaicin...). It is what gives this pepper its spiciness! That's not all it gives. It is said that the following benefits of having this in your life is as follows! BUT FIRST!!!

**Please note that this is only a compiling of research, that we are not doctors or healthcare professionals. Please make sure that you do your own research along with ours as we are only writing things to start you on your quest for knowledge! Also, "dosing" is different for everyone! Lean on the side of ultra conservative and again, work with a professional.**

Alright, back to the facts! Maestro, if you please. 

The benefits that we found on our quest for knowledge are as follows, some of them have the stats aka studies to back them up and some do not, but that is your own rabbit hole to get lost in! 

Benefits:

Pain Relief, assist in prevention of colds setting in, support the heart in its health, promote weight loss, stimulant, antimicrobial, analgesic, carminative, styptic, antioxidant, stimulating diaphoretic, stimulating expectorant, immune-stimulant, anti-fungal, rubefacient, metabolic stimulant, blood mover, may have anti-cancer properties, improve psoriasis, detoxification, reduce migraines, reduce hunger, boost metabolism, improve digestion, heal ulcers (???), support eye health, and could be useful against bacterial infections. 

What does this all mean? It means that there are all sorts of reasons to be using this in your cooking and what not. From toothaches and arthritis to low libido and depression. From bleeding (ladies, menstrual cramp aid!) to helping one with weight loss!

What get used on this plant form?The answer is that one uses mainly the "meat" of the fruit and its seeds. You can prepare it for use in the following ways: tea, tincture, liniment oil salve, and as culinary spice!

I did also find that you can use it as pepper spray and pest control (just note that if you have pets this will not be good for them, so just use where they will not be EVER). 

Since this is a pepper! I wanted to include what it is on the Scoville scale! It is considered a medium heat, just so everyone it is aware! The range is 30,000 to 50,000! Just stay away from the pure capsaicin! That is on the scale as 16,000,000.

In short, cayenne pepper (or chili) is the bomb.com!

Here's some names of "yummy eats & treats" for you to search for! 

Alton Brown Meatloaf

Fish Tacos

Million-Dollar Dip

Homemade Cayenne Pepper Sauce

Cowboy Chili 

Cayenne can also be used as a rub, marinade, in hot cocoa and in lemonade (if you need a kick!)

Check out our list of resources and gems (especially for those recipes!!!) below:

*Pepperscale.com                    *healthwholeness.com

*cayennediane.com                 *healthclevelandclinic.org           

*Shuncy.com                           *medicalnewstoday.com      

*chilipepermadness.com         *healthandnaturalworld.com   

*insanelygoodrecipes.com      *webmd.com

 *allrecipes.com                      *Alchemy of Herbs By Rosalee De La Foret forward by Rosemary Gladstar    *wiki