Kitchen Remedies: Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper is a spice that many people have in their kitchen.

It is an ingredient listed in chili and spaghetti recipes and people use it to spice up their veggie dishes and casseroles.

Cayenne is also an amazing home herbal remedy.

Here is a cayenne remedy that you will remember. If you cut your finger in the kitchen, first clean it by rinsing the cut with slightly warm water and let it bleed for a little bit under tepid running water. If you need to go to the hospital, by all means, do so, but if you have a superficial cut, rinse it well then cake it with cayenne. Hold the finger up and just keep caking it with powdered cayenne pepper until it stops bleeding.

I know what your first thought is, “No way, that is going to really hurt!” People think this my idea of a funny herbalists prank when I tell them about this remedy.

Guess what? It doesn’t hurt; cayenne actually helps to take the pain away. We have had ample opportunity to try this remedy with minor knife cuts in herbal cooking classes. I have watched many people go from an adamant, “No way” to “Wow, this is miraculous”.

The cayenne pepper stings for just a moment and then it stops the bleeding, takes away the pain and disinfects the wound. It is an herbal treatment that most professional cooks know about because you can wrap up the cut and keep on cooking if you have to.

I hope you don’t get a chance to try it, but if you need it, cayenne pepper is a good remedy to have on hand!