Cayenne
by Gudrun Maybaum
E-mail: gudrun@totallyorganics.com
Your Parrot Place

Common name: Cayenne - Capsicum
Botanical name: Capsicum frutescens
Family: Solanaceae or Nightshade

The first references to cayenne have been found on plaques in Egyptian tombs.

It has been cultivated for culinary and medical uses for centuries in the American tropics. The physician Diego Alvarez Chanca described cayenne first in 1494. He discovered cayenne when he accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second journey to the West Indies.

Cayenne is native to tropical America, but is now cultivated in tropical locations all over the world. In Mexico, Italy, China and Southeast Asia it is a common part of the cuisine.

Although hot to the taste, cayenne actually lowers body temperature by stimulating the cooling center of the hypothalamus. So, it helps the body deal with high temperatures in the summer or the humid tropics.

Cayenne supports the increase of the levels of liver enzymes, which are responsible for fat metabolism, and can help to reduce the deposits of fat caused by a high fat diet.

Cayenne is rich in the vitamins A, C, iron, potassium and calcium. It also contains vitamin G, some B complex, magnesium, phosphorus and sulfur.

Prized for thousand of years for its healing powers, recent clinical studies have been conducted on many of these old-time health applications and have validated cayenne's medical value.

Health practitioners consider cayenne one of the most important herbs and a wonderful healer. Because of its stabilizing effect for bleeding, shock and heart attack it is the number one herb for first aid.

The number of cases that cayenne can be used for is quite extensive. It has effective properties as an antioxidant, is effective on the cardiovascular system, is useful for high and low blood pressure, and is beneficial to the gastrointestinal function.

Cayenne is known to stop a heart attack, lower blood sugar in diabetics, normalize blood pressure, stop bleeding in seconds, improve circulation, and even halt the common cold.

Scientific evidence also indicates that cayenne pepper can be effective in treating allergies, indigestion, abscesses, tonsillitis, kidney problems, sore muscles, nose bleeds, psoriasis, shingles, night blindness, some kinds of cancer and in stimulating the body to rebuild stomach tissue.

Cayenne is a great stimulant and increases the efficiency of other herbs. Medical science does not know of another stimulant which is so natural, certain and has less side effects when regularly used.

Capsaicin is an ingredient in cayenne that was isolated by chemists more than hundred years ago. It is comprised of about 12% cayenne which is a compound that causes the sensory neurons to release P, a substance which works as a pain messenger to the nervous system to relief pain. The name capsaicin is found in many drugstore ointments for arthritis and muscle pain. It can also activate the antioxidant enzyme systems and stabilize lung membrane lipids.

All the above applies for the dried raw fruit or powder. In the cooked or un-dried form, cayenne can be a serious irritation to the digestive tract and can contribute to an ulcerous condition.

Case Study 1:
Guy is a Red Fronted Amazon that was badly beaten by one of his cage mates. He had lots of bite wounds on his wings and neck, but the worst was his on head, which had a big open wound. And, he had gone blind. Typically, this happened late in the evening when no vet was available until the morning.

We brought him into the house, put him into a warm environment and I started to give him water with cayenne powder. Several vets had told me that most animals in such cases die of shock and not of the actual injury. My main concern was to stabilize him. That is why I kept giving him the "cayenne water". During the night I occasionally checked on him and he seemed to be stabilized. In the morning he had his eyesight back. According to the vet, the loss of the eyesight was a side effect of the shock.

The vet had to do a major surgery and Guy got several stitches on his head to close the wound. He is fully recuperated, but very shy with other birds.


Case Study 2:
A former roommate of mine had a pair of canaries. One day we found the female laying on her back with seizures. We gave her water with cayenne powder and she was back to normal within half an hour. After that, she was given the cayenne powder sprinkled over her food daily. She was doing fine, until my friend forgot and stopped giving her the cayenne. She does not remember how long after she stopped that she came home and found the canary had died.

That's very interesting! Sometimes I sprinkle it on Ollie's veggie/bean/rice mix, although it doesn't seem to get her any more interested in it...

I thought we should look at this again. I know a lot of big bird people offer 'hot' peppers to their birds. I wonder if it is the same effect as cayenne

Mine love hot stuff just dont kiss the birdie after it has mean second hand burn.

hot birdy kisses.

I used to put hot peppers in my work sandwiches - I remember hot lips; might even mean some heat would transfer to fingers & then to eyes.

Seriously - my husband used to take cayenne pills for blood cleansing - I think he said.

So could I just sprinkle the cayenne pepper from McCormicks on the birds food?

I have been putting a teaspoon of Cayenne in my orange mango juice and drinking it for two reasons, my sinuses and my BP. It depresses my appetite too. It works! I have posted here before that I also sprinkle it on pasta for our birds.

Good reading about it's benefits: LINK: Cayenne Pepper

I use cayenne all the time in my gloop recipes for the birds but I seriously doubt that the cayenne had anything to do with keeping the first case bird out of shock or saving the canary's life. For shock, the best thing is a lot of warmth, quiet and, if the bird is not drinking, syringing spring water with electrolytes or a sprinkle of Guardian Angel into his beak (this should not be done with birds that are not conscious). A bit of honey can also be added. If there is pain, some metacam is recommended but only if you know for a fact how much to give to the bird. The canary was most likely suffering from hypocalcemia and died because the woman did not treat it.

My husband has high BP and needs to have his appetite depressed. I think I'll surprise him tomorrow and sprinkle some on his oatmeal.