Cardiovascular Herbs Part 2

Capsaicin

I use capsaicin, the powerful extract of cayenne pepper fairly routinely in treating heart patients, often combined with hawthorn. I also rely on it as a topical painkiller. As an herbal heart medication, capsaicin (Capsicum annum) can cut cholesterol, lower high blood pressure, thin the blood and help combat fatigue. These actions make it suitable as a general cardiovascular supplement and as a treatment for specific heart ailments, including chest pains and rhythm disturbances.

Elsewhere in the body, capsaicin is as effective a topical painkiller as any we have seen. Knowing a good thing when they see it, the drug companies now use it as the active ingredient in their high-priced, heavily advertised pain preparations. Originally sold only by prescription, but now available over- the-counter, the salves tout capsaicin’s ability to relieve everything from run-of-the-mill achy muscles to pain from a mastectomy. As the ads say, it’s the pain reliever that most doctors recommend. Just don’t count on them to mention that you can get the same stuff, often at a more reasonable price, at a health food store.

– Cayenne’s nerve-numbing, desensitizing effect, according to the research, eases arthritis, herpes zoster (shingles), psoriasis, asthma, incontinence and inflammatory bowel disease.
– It can also relieve pain from diabetic neuropathy and fibromyalgia.
– The liquid extract, massaged on the gums, will dampen toothache pain.
– Rubbed inside your nose, it’ll relieve a cluster headache; on the vagina it will clear up a painful case of vulvar vestibulitis.

And while the spice was once thought to cause ulcers, we now know that it actually may prevent them.

As an alternative to buying a capsaicin cream, you might mix up a home-made salve, blending some cayenne powder into a base of cocoa butter. You can also eat foods peppered with cayenne, although I suggest starting with a mere sprinkle if you’re not accustomed to hot spices.

In capsule form, cayenne’s strength is measured not in milligrams, but in units of a ‘heat index’. The higher number of heat units, the more of the active ingredient it contains. Use the real scorchers, the supplements that contain 100,000 heat units.

GUGGULIPID

An extract from an Indian gum called ‘guggul’, guggulipid is another natural ally in the fight against high blood triglycerides and a poor HDL-LDL ratio. By helping to reduce the viscosity of blood, it also gives us extra protection against blood clots. Widely available in health food stores, a typical dose is 50-100 mg twice a day.

CACTUS (NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS)

In 1921, years before the pharmaceutical industry and consensus panels assumed control of the medical profession, a leading distributor of herbal medicines surveyed doctors to learn which herbs they prescribed most frequently. One of the favourites turned out to be night-blooming cereus, which may be more familiar as cactus.

In today’s average doctor’s surgery, cactus is more likely to be found on a windowsill than in the dispensary, and just about every heart patient in the country is worse off as a result. Cactus is an effective herbal enhancer of the heart, capable of substantially reducing the need for risky, costly heart medications. If cactus were a patentable drug instead of an inexpensive herb, its impressive range of benefits would probably make it a top-selling medication. Although it can strengthen the heart muscle in virtually every form of cardiovascular disease, it gives its best performance in treating cardiac rhythm disorders and mitral valve prolapse, which involves a weakness in a heart valve.

When cactus is taken with hawthorn, magnesium, coenzyme Q10, taurine and L-camitine, among other heart nutrients, the therapeutic effect can be surprising. The wonderful thing about cactus is that the longer you use it, the better it works. It won’t weaken the heart, as do many cardiac medications. In fact, regular use often greatly reduces the need for such drugs.
The value of cactus is therapeutic, not preventive, so only people diagnosed with heart disease should use it, preferably as a tincture available in health food stores. A daily Vl teaspoon is a typical dosage. As with hawthorn, anticipate a less dire need for heart medications. However, reduce the dosage only under a doctor’s supervision.