Ed Wendlocher, founder and president of the Arthritis Help
Centers, Inc., suffered from arthritis for many years until he discov-
ered his sensitivity to various foods. He promoted clinical studies
that resulted in several booklets, the latest being Pain Foods! avail-
able either through our website (http://www.arthritistrust.org) or at
his address listed below. After careful studies over many years it
was learned that many taste enhancers, such as capsaicinoids, were
exempted by the food labelling act and were also found in small
quantities in many ordinary foods. These, it was discovered, caused
many people, including Ed Wendlocher himself, to suffer from the
classical phenomena of “arthritis.”
Now the mechanism is revealed through further academic re-
search that capsaicinoids do, indeed, play a serious role in creating
inflammation, tissue damage and “arthritis!”
We highly recommend obtaining the Arthritis Help Center book-
lets describing foods that may be causing arthritic problems.
Chemicals in ‘hot’ Chili Peppers Confirmed
to be a Cause of Arthritis!
Professor Jack Abel, Ph D
“Harvard Medical School researchers have now found
that the receptor activated by chemicals in ‘hot’ chili peppers
is also responsible for the ongoing, burning pain associated
with inflammation, tissue damage and arthritis!”
The chemicals in the ‘hot’ chili peppers that cause them to be
‘hot’ are the capsaicinoids. Capsaicinoids are strong irritants that
act directly on the pain receptors in your skin and mucous mem-
branes. The strongest capsaicinoids are capsaicin and
dihydrocapsaicin. Capsaicin is so strong that a single drop diluted
in one million drops of water will still warm your tongue. Like
dihydrocapsaicm, it delivers a sting all over your mouth. A third
capsaicinoid, nordihydrocapsaicin, produces a warmer, mellower
sensation in the front of your mouth and palate. A fourth,
homodihydrocapsaicin, packs a delayed punch, delivering a sting-
ing, numbing burn to the back of your throat.
Until now, capsaicin has been reported to primarily have ben-
eficial effects on the body. It is best known as an effective ‘pain
relief’ substance when applied topically to the skin where it de-
stroys certain nerve cells and prevents pain signals from reaching
the brain. However, increased research of capsaicin is now uncover-
ing that it also has significant detrimental effects on the body.
Capsaicin is now confirmed to be a primary cause of the
on-going, burning pain associated with inflammation, tissue
damage and arthritis! Capsaicin is a strong irritant. Applied to
the skin, it causes the small blood vessels under the skin to dilate;
increasing the flow of blood to the area and making the skin feel
warm. It stimulates nerve endings in your mouth normally stimu-
lated by a rising body temperature, sending impulses to your brain
that release endorphins giving you a false sense of well-being. Eat-
ing ‘hot’ chili peppers may upset your stomach, irritate the lining of
your stomach, irritate your bladder so that you have to urinate more
frequently or even make your urination painful.
The ‘hot’ chili pepper plants are ‘cousins’ of tobacco [and
tomatoes] being in the same Solanaceae plant family. The ‘hot’ chili
peppers contain many of the same natural toxins as tobacco. By
comparing the established LD-50 values (measures of toxicity), we
see that the capsaicin in ‘hot’ chili peppers is in the same league as
a dangerous toxin as is nicotine in cigarette smoke.
Capsaicin is now used commercially as a pesticide on fruits
and vegetables as it both kills insects and repels animals from crops.
Again, based on LD-50 values, it is one of the more dangerous toxic
pesticides in use today!
‘Hot’ chili pepper, also known as cayenne pepper, is made
from the seeds and pods of Capsicum peppers, a species com-
pletely different from Piper nigrum, the plant whose fruit is used as
black pepper (the one in the shaker on your table). The Capsicum
peppers are native to Mexico, Central America, the West Indies and
much of South America, but similar varieties are also native to the
Far East. They may be long and thin like the cayenne pepper, large
and firm like the Anaheim, cone shaped like the jalapeno or small
and cherry shaped. Tabasco peppers, used to make a popular hot
sauce, are a variety of ‘hot’ peppers known as Capsicum frutescens.
Ground red pepper labeled cayenne pepper or simply red pepper is
made by grinding the smaller, more pungent Capsicums. The term
“red pepper” may also be used to describe ground red pepper
milder than, cayenne. Crushed red pepper, the spice you find in
pizza parlors, is made from the seeds of the ‘hot’ varieties of Cap-
sicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens. Chili powder is a blend of
red pepper with other herbs and spices.
Recent studies completed in association with scientists at
a major university show that persons with arthritis can sig-
nificantly reduce their pain, swelling and stiffness by consci-
entiously avoiding the foods containing the ‘hot’ chili peppers
and certain other food ingredients!
The problem: ‘hot’ chili ingredients are not easy to avoid as
they are rarely shown on the food label by that name. They are
usually shown on the label as spices, spice extracts, flavorings,
natural flavorings or seasonings; or added as colorings or preserva-
tives and not shown at all!
For complete information on the foods to avoid, contact
ARTHRITIS HELP CENTERS, phone (973) 361-1867 or or-
der thru the website of The Arthritis Trust of America, at
www.arthritistrust.org for the guidebook “FOOD PAIN!” $9.95 +
$3.00 S&H.
____________________________________________________
What Harvard Medical School researchers seem to have con-
cluded is as follows:
1. When chili peppers activate certain nerve receptors, this
activation is also responsible for a burning sensation associated
with inflammation, tissue damage and “arthritis.”
2. When inflammation occurs, a “p38” molecule switches on.
This is an intracellular signaling molecule which causes a “cascade”
of enzymes to increase the amount of heat that passes through a
protein known as “TRPV 1,” sometimes called the “ion-channel
protein.” It is also sometimes called the “chili pepper receptor.”
3. The “chili pepper receptor” is very sensitive to capsaicin.
Capsaicin causes chili peppers to feel “hot.”
4. Regulation of the chili pepper receptor was not expected,
according to Harvard anesthesia researcher professor Clifford Woolf
as large increases in the amount of receptor from increasing inflam-
mation does not change production of mRNA. However, “The gene
itself is not being changed, the mRNA that is being translated is.”
5. Dr. Woolf may perform further research in using p38 inhibi-
tors for treatment of inflammation and accompanying pain. Foot-
note from: “Hot research, burning pain: the protein TRPV1 is sen-
sitive to capsaicin, found in chili peppers.”
