LEARNING AT THE POTTER'S WHEEL

Duke has had the most adjustments in the transition from our prescription-taking, junk-food eating days. The improvements he has seen have made him a believer. Sometimes, however, he proceeds quickly where caution might be the better choice -- like the day he invented the one-hour colon cleanse.

Duke was suffering with some muscle aches and pains. I mixed up a tonic that included cayenne pepper. He drank it down, and the pain was alleviated. So the next day when he got up, he decided to try some more tonic as a preventative.

It was his day off. He didn't want to wake me. So, on an empty stomach he took a 'goodly portion' of the tonic. This was on top of his daily supplements, which (at the time) included two capsules of cayenne pepper. Added to this were two generous tablespoons of a men's health tincture which (you guessed it) also had cayenne.

By the time I got up, he looked pale, shaky and a little weak. I asked him if he were okay. We had somewhere to go, and he said he wasn't sure he could join us. He also told me that he ‘hadn’t been able to’ eat breakfast and wasn’t interested in trying to eat. Usually, he LOVES a hot breakfast.

It had been nearly 30 years since my mate had taken a day off from ANYTHING due to sickness. THIS was NOT NORMAL. I started questioning him about his symptoms: sweating, stomach hurting, burning in the chest, very weak, nauseas and heart palpitations -- I thought he was having a heart attack!

He excused himself to the bathroom. When he returned, it was with questions about what he had seen there and descriptions of what we will politely call burning discomfort.

That's when I got suspicious and asked him what he had ingested that morning, since he had already said that he hadn’t been able to eat breakfast. He started recalling the list of things he had taken. I tried not to laugh as I told him, "Honey, you'll be okay. You're just really, REALLY cleaned out now." He felt a little lighter for the rest of the day.

While cayenne is a food and won’t likely cause you any lasting ill effects, you CAN overwhelm your unsuspecting digestive tract and cause it to rebel. Duke does a much better job of describing this than I. *wink*

Disclaimer: None of this is to be considered a substitute for medical examination and/or treatment. Use what you will, but do so knowing that you must consider your own circumstance and the application of these things with sound judgment.