Spicy Foods: 10 Good And 10 Bad Things Spices Can Do For You

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For quite some time people have embraced the theory that spicy foods can give you ulcers. This has turned out to be an old wives’ tale: Spicy foods can aggravate an existing ulcer, but cannot cause one because of their spicy composition. It turns out that even though there are some bad things that can happen to you if you eat spicy foods, there are also many good things that can happen as well. If you are not concerned about any of the bad things that can happen, then you can take the heat. Enjoy your spicy foods, but remember that benefits come with moderation!

The Good Things.

1. A longer life

A large study of more than a half million people from China found that the group who ate spicy foods at least six times each week lowered their risk of dying by 14 percent. This study started in 2008 and spanned over seven years. Just by eating spicy foods twice a week reduced the risk of death by 10 percent.

2. You can lose weight

The scorched feeling when you eat spicy foods is called capsaicin. It is this condition that causes people to lose weight. It seems that when your mouth is on fire it slows down your eating. Hot peppers are able to reduce your appetite as well as speed up your metabolism.

3. Relief from pain

When you eat spicy foods, the capsaicin was found to encourage the body to release endorphins making you feel better naturally.

4. Antimicrobial effects

Another benefit of spices is that they show antibacterial properties and slight antifungal benefits.

5. Anti-inflammatory

Capsaicin helps to deal with many autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Autoimmune diseases are not common in countries where spicy foods are prevalent.

6. Good for your heart

Researchers believe that spicy foods actually have a positive effect on your heart. Capsaicin helps fight inflammation and spicy chilis are able to keep blood from clotting.

7. Prevents cancer

Curcumin, which is found in spicy turmeric, was proven to reduce cancer cells from growing as well as preventing them from forming in the first place.