On Sunday I woke up with the chills, and aches and pains all over my body, Monday it felt the same, Tuesday added a new wrinkle of a sore throat (although the aches and pains went away), and by Wednesday the sore throat was killing me (and taking away my voice for periods of time). I searched the internets and found the strangest of cures…cayenne pepper. Was this a case of the cure being worse than the disease? Perhaps.
The recipe I tried was this:
1tsp cayenne pepper
1tsp salt
1cup boiling water
In a mug, pour boiling water over the tsp of cayenne and salt. Let the cayenne pepper steep in the boiling water for about 3-5 minutes (which will allow the water to cool down enough that you can safely gargle with it).
Gargle for 10-15 seconds 5-6 times. Do not gargle the seeds in the bottom, and don't mix up the mixture before gargling, you want the spicy/salty water, and not the seeds themselves.
The first time I did this I stirred everything up and started gargling, little pepper seeds got caught in my throat and I had trouble gargling.
Later that night I tried again by using the steep method (by accident, I was letting the boiling water cool down), and it was much easier to gargle, and I found no difference between the 1st and 2nd times.
I've done this 4 times so far, and I've noticed a major change in my throat.