Cures for the Annoying Aches and Pains

1. The search to find cures for the annoying aches and pains that are part of everyday life can be found in the recorded histories of every culture.
2. The use of hot peppers, mustard, radishes and sugar are among the many food items central to the art of healing found throughout history. Researchers have begun to study some of these ancient methods of pain relief. In particular, scientists are examining the ability of certain foods to reduce pain.
3. Do foods such as these work as pain relievers or are their effects simply physiological? Researchers say that the results of several studies indicate the pain relief is real. It is believed that certain foods stimulate the body's natural pain-killer called endorphins. Sugar appears to be one such food.
4. Infants given sugar water, before having their fingers pricked to obtain a blood sample, cried 50 percent less than those given plain water. Hot substances, such as peppers, are believed to fool the body into thinking it's in pain. They irritate the tongue causing a searing sensation; tears come into the eyes. Your body thinks it is being hurt. Endorphins flood into the body and you start to feel better.
5. While no one is suggesting replacing aspirin with hot peppers, the research does indicate that there is more to some of the ancient cures than we suspected. New studies indicate foods high in needed minerals such as copper and manganese act to block the pain or reduce it frequency.
6. The gravity of such findings is clear. Certainly the prospect of stimulating the body's natural pain-control system, as a means of reducing the reliance on pills, would be a positive achievement.

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