7 Reasons Why Spicy Food Is Good For You

Table of Contents show

1 You'd better learn to eat it.

2 1. Spicy Food Lowers Your Blood Pressure

3 2. Eating Spicy Reduces Stress

4 3. Spicy Food Can Help Prevent and Fight Inflammation

5 4. Spicy Food Can Help Against Headaches

6 5. Spicy Food Boosts Your Metabolism

7 6. Spicy Food Is Good For Bowel Movements

8 7. Lose Weight By Eating More Hot Pepper: Fact Or Fiction?

8.1 Also Read: Eat Hot and Live Longer

9 Lose Weight: This Is The Secret Weapon

10 Hot Pepper Is Not A Miracle Cure, But It Is Effective

10.1 Capsaicin is good for metabolism, but not a therapy I recommend to my patients for weight loss,” says Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, nutritionist at Renaissance Periodization. Initially, it's effective, but it's too small to speak of a miracle cure.

11 Warning: Too Much Capsaicin Is Not Good

You'd better learn to eat it.

Those who like spicy food and can handle it well: congratulations. Spicy food has a lot of advantages. We sum up.

1. Spicy Food Lowers Your Blood Pressure

Seems contradictory – with spicy food we mainly see sweaty people and fast-beating hearts in front of us – but pepper contains vitamins A and C, which strengthen your blood vessels. Pepper also contains capsaicin, a substance that makes your blood flow more easily through your body. This combination ensures a healthy heart and blood vessels and stable blood pressure. Chilli pepper is also known as a good helper in case of a wrong cholesterol level.

2. Eating Spicy Reduces Stress

Spicy food can boost the production of the feel-good hormone serotonin. So the next time you eat to get cheerful, it's better to snack on ginger or pepper than to reach for a sugar bomb.

3. Spicy Food Can Help Prevent and Fight Inflammation

The capsaicin in spicy food not only helps blood flow through your body, it also has an anti-inflammatory effect. And in addition to inhibiting inflammation, it also actively fights inflammation, so the benefit is twofold.

4. Spicy Food Can Help Against Headaches

Another wonderful feature of capsaicin: it soothes pain, which is why it has been used as a painkiller for years. Combined with caffeine (a little chili pepper in your coffee can't hurt), it's a notorious weapon against headaches and emerging migraines.

5. Spicy Food Boosts Your Metabolism

Also, the metabolism benefits from capsaicin. You sweat when you have exercised, but you can also sweat when you have had a very spicy meal. This is no coincidence. The peppers boost your metabolism, so you burn fat faster. It also speeds up digestion. Two factors that play a major role in a successful diet.

6. Spicy Food Is Good For Bowel Movements

Spicy food has been associated with all sorts of wretched toilet visits for years, but there is no scientific evidence for a connection between the two. In fact, this research shows that the capsaicin in spicy food (we have it again) actually stimulates bowel movements.

7. Lose Weight By Eating More Hot Pepper: Fact Or Fiction?

You went and trained like crazy and suddenly it turns out that you could have done with eating spicy food. Of course, that's not entirely true. But it is a fact that capsaicin, the active ingredient in spicy foods, can help to break down body fat. Handy during weight loss, so. But is it a panacea?

According to various scientific studies, the substance capsaicin offers benefits to people who are overweight or have a slow metabolism. Possibly it stimulates the production of sweat, something that also happens when exercising at the gym. So the question is whether capsaicin has a similar effect and can actively contribute to burning body fat.

Also Read: Eat Hot and Live Longer

Lose Weight: This Is The Secret Weapon

Capsaicin is the active ingredient in hot pepper that ensures that after eating a chili pepper you will indeed get warm. By the way, it is the same substance that is used in pepper spray, hence its name. But we wander off.

Research shows that consuming capsaicin, usually in concentrated form, is beneficial for better metabolism. People who use this substance burn an extra 50 to 70 calories on average. We have to make a note: this effect only occurs in people with a BMI of 25 or higher.

Hot Pepper Is Not A Miracle Cure, But It Is Effective

It is claimed that weight loss is achieved by capsaicin activating fat burning and helping to improve insulin production. Others will tell you that capsaicin can help control your appetite.

Capsaicin is good for metabolism, but not a therapy I recommend to my patients for weight loss,” says Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, nutritionist at Renaissance Periodization. Initially, it's effective, but it's too small to speak of a miracle cure.

Warning: Too Much Capsaicin Is Not Good

There is also a drawback to the use of capsaicin. Too much hot pepper can cause stomach cramps and ulcers, as well as general irritation of the stomach and a burning sensation. So watch out if you have had stomach complaints or swallowed stomach protectors in the past.

That said, there is nothing wrong with hot sauce. It is low in calories and gives your dishes some extra kick. If you tolerate hot food well, go ahead and smother your eggs in sambal or Cholula.

Further reading and sources:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200203213461219
https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a27318920/spicy-foods-weight-loss/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10949098/