Can eating spicy things hurt you in any way?

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I love spicy food, but after I eat it I get a runny nose and a mild sore throat for a few hours. Sometimes I wonder if eating spicy things can kill your tastebuds or slough the mucous membrane off your esophagus or give you canker sores or anything. Spiciness is, after all, a pain stimulus, and pain indicates that harm is being done to the body.

Chilli does kill off your tastebuds, but is also used in some kinds of medicines, so it isn't unhealthy per se. (Don't worry, the tastebuds come back, but this explains why people who eat chilli every day can eat much more spicy food)
Chilli can cause local irritation, of course. Runny noses are also quite normal ... enjoyable, even!!
You can calmly eat chilli, if you enjoy it.

Last edited by katrine on 30 Mar 2008, 2:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm not dead, so I suppose not...

Heck, it clears out my sinuses just fine...

Certain allergic people can have reactions to particular spices. Some people who have GERD, heartburn or ulcers may find that spicy foods trigger their symptoms. Otherwise, I don't believe there is any harm in consuming spicy foods. I personally LOVE them. My two year old son loves the "oral sensory input" and wants Frank's Red Hot on everything from macaroni and cheese to the casserole I make

My son, too

Some spices have really good medicinal properties - a mild chelating effect (coriander), or having a protective/preventative effect against stroke/dementia etc (possibly tumeric?)

I get migraines from all temperatures of red peppers, bell peppers to the fiery types of red peppers. Fiery mouth, burned belly, sting in the eyes if you rub them with your fingers. What goes in must come out, so your O-ring might be stinging as the hot "exits the building".

Having a runny nose is normal after eating spicey foods...infact, if someone didn't get one from eating something spicey, I'd be a little concerned.
I don't see how eating spicey foods can harm you unless you have a specific medical reason that prevents you from doing so. Having a sore throat after eating something spicey I have heard is quite common as well. If that happens, then maybe you should have a milder spice in the food and see if it goes away. It's not harmful though.

LOL!

In my experience that only happens with hemorrhoids. Which aren't caused by peppers.

Eating peppers in moderation is good for you. They are packed with vitamin C. Peppers also provide anti-inflammatory benefits. And they speed up your metabolism.

And of course they help clear up sinuses.

The Day After s**ts, after eating a jar of halapenos or as we say in Canada jalapenos

When I was your age and up to my early 30s there was no downside to chili peppers for me Miss Pickwickian. Now, however, it's a good idea for me to take ranitidine before eating peppers or some Italian food to prevent heartburn. That's about the only downside that I know of. Unless you have an allergy eat what you like.

I don't think so.

I've always like hotter foods. I went on a bing in the last couple years, was going to Quaker Steak and getting the Atomic wings, tried as many things that I could sign a waver for as possible. Still have Mad Dog 357 in the fridge with Black Mamba and Dave's Insanity Gourmet. I think after a while I got used to the fact that it just killed the flavor too much to be enjoyable and of course, yes, having bad intestinal cramps till 10 PM the next night was ok when I was just testing my limits but after a while it just got to me a bit too much. Don't get me wrong though, if someone I ran into had some 1,000,000+ scoville stuff, particularly something like Blaire's 2AM, 3AM, 4AM, yeah - you bet I'd try it just for the novelty and being able to say I did, not much other reason though.

I like spicy food, especially nachos and burritos. I can usually handle jalapeños pretty well (although some fresh ones gave me bad heartburn at this one restaurant!)

Sometimes I put jalapeños in omelettes or on cheeseburgers.

I love spicy stuff up to a point. When it starts inducing hiccups, that's when I draw the line. Habanero flavor does that to me, so that's out, but everything up to that point seems good. Jalapenos are just about perfect. I subscribe to the theory of it being beneficial.

I don't know what heartburn is.

On the other hand, the benefit is that people leave you alone until after you brush your teeth. Unless they start bugging you to brush your teeth.