The Truth About 6 Possible Benefits of Drinking Cayenne Pepper Water

Adding a little spice to your diet can boost your health. There are many studied benefits of the active ingredient in cayenne pepper called capsaicin. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get all that goodness from drinking cayenne pepper water.

Cayenne pepper water usually refers to a mixture of water, cayenne pepper and lemon juice, served warm or iced. It may not hurt to try, but more research is needed to truly support the benefits of cayenne pepper water.

Cayenne pepper is better known for adding a kick to many savory dishes rather than drinks. But in recent years, celebrities such as quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Beyonce have publicly sworn by the sip for health benefits including pain relief and weight loss.

But can a few sips of pepper powder really do all that?

The benefits of cayenne pepper stem from the active component, a chemical compound known as capsaicin. Cayenne pepper typically has about 2,500 micrograms of capsaicin per gram of powdered red pepper, according to 2017 research in ‌Folia Veterinaria‌.

Large amounts of capsaicin could be toxic, but the amount found in cayenne is so small that drinking cayenne pepper water shouldn’t cause much harm. In preliminary animal research, rodents benefited from capsaicin intakes that made up less than 1 percent of their diets. The researchers, writing in ‌Open Heart‌ in June 2015, hypothesized that dosages in the range of 20 to 40 milligrams may be appropriate for most people.

That’s more than most people would naturally eat, especially those who don’t enjoy or tolerate spicy foods. The hotness of cayenne pepper is measured by the Scoville heat scale, which evaluates the heat units of the peppers according to the amount of capsaicin they contain. Pure capsaicin is at the top of the scale with 16 million heat units, and bell peppers have zero. Cayenne pepper has 5,000 to 25,000 heat units, according to the American Chemical Society, and is considered at the top end of “mild” peppers.

Depending on your tolerance, too much cayenne can cause mouth pain and gastric upset. You may find it most comfortable to gradually add cayenne pepper drinks to your diet. Keep in mind cayenne can aggravate acid reflux, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. If you’re familiar with heartburn, you may need to skip this peppery drink.

If you can stomach it, here are the potential benefits of cayenne pepper water you might expect.

Cayenne pepper — and other brightly colored produce — is rich in antioxidants, natural plant compounds that help fight off damage to our cells, according to a July 2016 review in ‌Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition‌.

Regularly drinking beverages and eating foods high in antioxidants like cayenne pepper is linked with lower chances of developing heart disease and certain types of cancers, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Cayenne pepper can act as an appetite suppressant, reducing hunger so you eat less and feel full for longer. A small June 2014 ‌Appetite‌ study found adding capsaicin to the diet of a small number of adults increased their feelings of satisfaction and fullness, which may help ward off overeating.

But keep in mind the study used capsaicin pills at a dose of about 1.03 grams of red chili pepper with 39,050 Scoville heat units at each meal for 36 hours, rather than a cayenne pepper drink.

Cayenne pepper water is often touted as a drink for fast weight loss. And while there is some evidence linking capsaicin and fat breakdown, it’s not exactly a quick fix.

In a number of small human studies and animal trials, capsaicin has been linked with breaking down fat cells and increased calorie burn at rest, according to a 2017 review in ‌Pharmacognosy Review‌.

That said, exactly how much cayenne pepper water you’d need to drink to have a positive effect isn’t clear, and you’d also need to make changes to your overall diet, per the Cleveland Clinic. Plus, there are healthier, more sustainable ways to lose weight.

Cayenne pepper may help improve your digestive health. The paper in ‌Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition‌ also concluded that cayenne pepper is a powerful gastrointestinal stimulant that can increase your digestive tract’s ability to receive and process micronutrients. The capsaicin in cayenne also boosts gastric blood flow.

June 2016 research in the ‌Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine‌ noted other GI benefits of capsaicin, including stimulation of digestion. But the researchers emphasized more research is needed to determine the right dosage of cayenne to provide these benefits in general, let alone in cayenne water form.

Cayenne pepper water may have cardiovascular perks, as it can help dilate blood vessels. This makes blood flow more freely, boosting circulation.

Animal studies, such as June 2015 research in ‌Open Heart‌, suggest this blood vessel dilation may discourage plaque formation that can lead to clogged arteries. But it’s not clear yet how these results translate to humans and how much cayenne pepper water you’d need to drink to get the benefits.

When applied directly to the skin, capsaicin creams can improve pain for people with arthritis and muscle injuries, according to the Mayo Clinic. But research has not been conducted on drinking cayenne pepper water for similar benefits.

Cayenne pepper water may deliver potential benefits such as reducing your appetite, improving your digestion and aiding weight loss. But there is only minimal research supporting these benefits, and most of it is preliminary and focused instead on the perks of capsaicin.

There are currently no official recommendations for the best way to take cayenne — whether through water, capsules or another means — or the amount to take.