Capsaicin is a component fount in certain plants, such as cayenne and red pepper. It works by stimulating the release of too much of substance P, which triggers the burning sensation you usually feel if you taste very hot peppers. However, once this is released, there is no more for a while, numbing the area. A second action involved releasing a chemical substance called endorphins. These help you feel pleasurable sensations.

The patch is applied to the area where the pain is and stays in place for an hour, except on the feet where it can only remain for half an hour.

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For the first time, a new study published online in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications has proven that capsaicin can kill tumor cells by directly targeting their energy source.

The Nottingham study has shown that the family of compounds to which capsaicin belongs, vanilloids, can kill cancer by attacking the mitochondria of the tumour cell, commonly known as its ‘powerhouse’, which produces ATP, the major energy-containing chemical in the body.

By binding proteins in the cancer cell mitochondria the compound triggers apoptosis, or natural cell death, without harming the healthy surrounding cells.

The compound has already been laboratory-tested in human lung cancer and pancreatic cancer cells with startling positive results.

This could only mean one thing: patients could control the onset of cancer by eating a capsaicin-rich diet. Besides, capsaicin is safe to eat and have always been part of the human diet.

According to Dr Timothy Bates, the study’s leader, a member of the Medical Research Council (MRC) College of Experts and an internationally-renowned researcher in the areas of mitochondrial research and anti-cancer drug development:

“This is incredibly exciting and may explain why people living in countries like Mexico and India, who traditionally eat a diet which is very spicy, tend to have lower incidences of many cancers that are prevalent in the western world.”

Westerners should stop being bland in their food and go spicy instead, don’t you think?

Find more details from the press release at The University of Nottingham.

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That Kick in Spicy Foods (Capsaicin) Kick Tumor Cells’ Energy Source