Perhaps this aspect of Capsaicin creme has been discussed, but I thought I might pass this along ....

Here's an interesting discussion on cutting out nightshade vegetables:
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/nightshades/

In the article, the author discusses why he believes using capsaicin cream for neuropathy inhibits healing and is bad for diabetics:

"Capsaicin makes your nerves release almost all the substance P they have, and researchers have therefore suggested that drugs containing capsaicin can help reduce pain. For example, there is an over-the-counter cream containing capsaicin that is promoted to help deplete substance P from local nerve endings and relieve pain.

However, inducing massive releases of substance P on a regular basis is like taking speed until your adrenals run out of adrenaline; it leads to a chronic local or systemic depletion of substance P. Substance P is necessary for proper healing. The brain gets a signal from substance P telling it that something is hurt and needs to be fixed. So when you have diabetics using capsaicin cream for their neuropathy, they feel better—the pain signal is gone—but they are inhibiting the healing process."

"... capsaicin is likely horrible for diabetics and their blood sugar control. I have witnessed firsthand the negative impact of consuming peppers on blood sugar control in some of my diabetic patients (the ones who keep diet and blood glucose logs)."

"When they inject capsaicin into mouse knee joints, it reduces blood flow. That’s a bad thing. Blood is what heals us. When neonatal rats were given capsaicin, their immune markers were depressed for ninety days."



I am not qualified to comment on any of what he is saying. However, I thought I'd copy this to move the discussion along one way or another since I have seen capsaicin mentioned routinely here and many are diabetics.

Natalie