Fire hazard: Can eating hot chilli peppers actually hurt you?

We all know the burning sensation we get when eating chillies. Some can tolerate the heat, while others may be reaching for the milk carton.

Some people even actively choose to participate in chilli-eating competitions, seeking out the world’s hottest chillies, such as the Carolina Reaper.

The global hot sauce market has grown substantially in the last few years. It sits at around $2.71 billion and is expected to grow to $4.38 billion by 2028.

But can the heat harm our bodies?

Let us take a look.

Heat is ‘trick’

For all their health benefits, eating hot chillies may cause a bit of discomfort.

This includes swelling, nausea, vomiting, eye pain, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, heartburn from acid reflux and headaches.

But the feelings we get are simply from our body’s response, not anything the chilli is doing to actually burn us. As such, many of the side effects we notice when eating hot chilli, such as sweating and pain, are a result of the body considering the stimulus to be a real burn.

This is why the heat can be “fun”. Our body senses capsaicin, the major active compound in chillies, and immediately responds to it. But there is no serious physical damage occurring to the cells. Capsaicin is “tricking” the body into thinking it is experiencing a real burn.

But what could be an advantage of…

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