What happens to your body when you eat spicy food

NEW YORK – Eating spicy food can produce a variety of physiological reactions, like a tingling in the tongue and lips, as well as sweating, said physiologist David Julius at the University of California, San Francisco.

“We all enjoy sensory experiences. Spicy foods make life more interesting,” he said.

But not all potential responses are welcome, even for those who enjoy the taste. Here is what people know about how spicy food affects the body.

It makes you sweat

Lovers of spicy food are likely to be familiar with one immediate physical reaction – sweating.

That is because some of the spiciest foods contain compounds that bind to nerve receptors along the gastrointestinal tract, including the mouth, that are activated by heat.

Chillies, the flavourful backbone of many spicy dishes, contain the compound capsaicin, which binds to those receptors and then sends a pain signal to the brain, as Professor Julius discovered in his Nobel Prize-winning work on the topic.

The main chemicals found in peppercorns, horseradish and mustard also bind to the same receptors, albeit less potently.

These nerves send similar signals to the brain as they would if you came into contact with actual fire, which is why you might start sweating or become flushed. That is the body’s way of cooling itself down.

“Capsaicin fools your body into thinking the temperature has risen, and so your brain thinks it needs to shed heat,” Prof Julius said. “In humans, we mostly do that by sweating.”

It can cause gastrointestinal distress

Eating spicy food in moderation is generally safe for people who do not already have stomach issues. However, it can cause inflammation to the areas that aid digestion and can sometimes lead to heartburn, stomachaches or diarrhoea.

People with gastritis, which occurs when the lining of the stomach is inflamed, may be especially susceptible to increased abdominal pain.

It may benefit health

Studies have shown that consuming spicy foods can be associated with some health benefits.

One study found that taking a daily supplement of capsaicin (containing the amount in four or five habanero peppers) sped up metabolism, where participants burned the equivalent of an extra 200 calories a day over a 14-week period.

In a 2022 study involving more than 6,000 adults, scientists found that chilli intake was linked with a reduction in calcium build-up in the walls of the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart.

It is unclear, however, whether eating spicy foods can reduce the likelihood of obesity or heart attacks in the long term.

The evidence is mixed on whether spicy foods raise or lower cancer risk.

A few studies have found that daily consumption of chillies is associated with an increased risk of oesophageal cancer, but not of gastric or colorectal cancers.

And while several experiments performed on cells in laboratories have found that capsaicin and piperine – the chemical found in peppercorns – may help impede or destroy human breast cancer cells, scientists do not yet know if these findings might lead to potential treatment.

One study published in 2015, of nearly half a million people in China, found that those who ate spicy food six to seven times a week for several years had a 14 per cent reduced risk of death compared with those who ate spicy food less than once a week.

The researchers thought these results were possibly related to the spicy foods’ antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, which can protect against conditions such as diabetes and certain types of cardiovascular disease.

Rarely, extreme reactions may occur

In rare cases, very hot peppers have caused extreme physiological reactions, like thunderclap headaches or vomiting so severe, it ruptured someone’s oesophagus.

If you have bitten into food that has more spice than you can handle, reach for something with high fat content, like milk or sour cream, Prof Julius said. Capsaicin is a fat-soluble compound, so it will not dissolve in water no matter how much you drink.

It is important to respect how much heat your body can take, he added.

But if you love spicy foods and your body can handle them, experts say, there is no reason to avoid them. NYTIMES