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Spicy food has proven health benefits. It has been shown that such foods can, among other things, help promote heart health and help you lose weight. But is there a health risk from eating too spicy food?
Some people associate eating spicy foods with negative experiences. Others think of the positive health effects of such dishes. But can a diet with too spicy food also do harm? The South Tyrol consumer advice center is addressing this question in a statement.
Various pungent substances
The perception of spiciness is triggered by various substances that stimulate the pain and heat receptors in the mouth. A sharp “taste” is therefore not a taste at all – such as sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami – but rather a painful stimulus.
The pungent substances include sulfur compounds such as allicin or alliin in onions, leeks, chives and garlic. They are considered to be beneficial to health because they have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects.
Other pungent substances are piperine and piperettin in pepper, glucosinolates in horseradish (horseradish) or gingerol in ginger.
Chili peppers (Peperoncini) owe their spiciness to capsaicin, an alkaloid. In plants or fruits it serves as protection against predators.
“If people take capsaicin in small amounts, it has positive effects. It stimulates blood circulation in the mucous membranes, which improves the immune system, promotes the motor skills of the stomach and thus the entire digestion,” explains Silke Raffeiner, the nutrition expert at the South Tyrol Consumer Center.
“However, in larger quantities, capsaicin is toxic and severe mucous membrane irritation, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting can result.”
Consumption sent teenagers to the hospital
Questionable “tests of courage” or “sharp competitions” on social media are therefore “strongly” discouraged. Just a few months ago, the TikTok trend “Hot Chip Challenge,” which involves consuming extremely spicy corn chips, led to teenagers being hospitalized.
How spicy a food is can be expressed using the so-called Scoville scale. This scale quantifies the degree of spiciness of various foods in the unit SHU (Scoville Heat Units).
The Carolina Reaper variety is considered the hottest chili pepper in the world with 2.2 million SHU. According to the manufacturer, the corn chips mentioned above are seasoned with this same chili pepper. In comparison, the seasoning “Tabasco” only reaches 30,000 to 50,000 SHU.
unwanted effects
The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) pointed out in a press release (PDF) that excessive consumption of capsaicin can trigger undesirable effects such as irritation of the mucous membranes, nausea, vomiting and high blood pressure and, in the worst case, even be life-threatening.
Children and people with cardiovascular diseases are particularly sensitive. But it is also true that some people tolerate spiciness better than others. This is probably due to the habituation effect when a person eats spicy food more often. Then pain and heat are perceived less strongly.
Do not drink water after spicy food
It is generally not recommended to drink water after a spicy meal. Rather, milk or yogurt or even bread have a soothing effect. Mascarpone is said to have the best neutralizing effect on untoasted bread. (ad)