Strong spices are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Specially, the hot spices like chillies are liked a lot by people in the Indian subcontinent unlike the people in the western countries.

What is capsaicin ?

An alkaloid known as capsaicin is formed in the mouth and creates a burning sensation when we eat any dish that has chillies and is hot and spicy. It produces a protein in the mucous membranes and sends a signal of burning sensation in the brain. In turn, the brain releases enzymes called endorphins to reduce the burning. Endorphins are happy hormones and it is because of this endorphin production that people get fondness for spicy hot foods.

But though it produces happy hormones, spicy foods create lot of harm in the stomach and the rest of the alimentary canal. The chillies create an inflammation in the stomach and do not digest well in the stomach and move to the intestines causing irritation of the intestines. These are not absorbed in the small intestines and are moved to the large intestines, further creating an inflammation there. These series of inflammations lead to the burping, bloating, and flatulence from having excess spicy food. There may also be loose motions, repeated urging to pass stool, and burning in anus. Excess chillies aggravate complaints like piles or hemorrhoids, fissures, fistula, etc.

Bad effects of chillies

The bad effects of chillies are further added on by the hydrocarbons formed by the process of deep frying. The repeated inflammations cause persistent indigestion, gastritis, heartburn, sour eructation, burping, peptic ulcer, etc. Studies show that persistent use of such burnt spices may eventually lead to cancer in the stomach and esophagus. In small quantities the chillies are beneficial to our body as a small amount of capsaicin improves the metabolism of our body and there are various kinds of vitamins and minerals present in chillies. But when ingested in large quantities, in addition to increasing the metabolism, it also increases the heat of the body. Skin diseases dry skin or eczema, fungal infections seen in children, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis seen in elders, are all seen to aggravate from eating a lot of spices. An excess consumption of chillies during pregnancy or during the period of breastfeeding may cause atopic dermatitis in the baby.

There are certain changes that can be made to reduce the harms of chillies in our food.

1. It is seen that the spices are added in the beginning of any preparation and they cook and burn through the entire cooking process and these spices burning in the oil produce harmful hydrocarbons. If the spices are added after 90% of the cooking is done, they do not burn or overcook. Chillies added in salads also are safe to a great extent.

2. Include dairy products like ghee, butter, curd, buttermilk, paneer etc. when consuming chillies and spices. This reduces the harshness of the spices and reduces the harm it could do the stomach and intestines. Curd helps to prevent the irritation in the intestines due to the chillies

3. Reduce the use of chillies if you have any kind of skin diseases or are on treatment for skin diseases, or if you have dry skin tendency.

4. Try to freshly grind the spices at home to prevent any kind of adulteration that is very common in market-bought products.

5. Avoid the extra masala/spices added on top of fried foods bought from restaurants.