The Great Indoors

I am chronically cold. I use to claim that I could live comfortably without air conditioning. I spent this past week in Phoenix and realized this was a complete lie. Snakes, lizards, and other reptiles can live without air conditioning; however I am a human being and therefore require air conditioning. Sweating while indoors goes against nature… (AKA why I hate gyms). Indoors are meant for comfort and relaxation, the outdoors are meant for uncomfortable things… like sweating, exercising, and camping.

With every rule, there is an exception. In this scenario (no sweating indoors), the exception is sweating indoors while eating.

I love spicy food. In most cases, I don’t think food is worth eating unless it causes you to sweat a little. I usually add cayenne pepper to my food or eat a Serrano pepper with my meals. I’ve heard that spicy food speeds your metabolism, makes you eat less, makes you eat more, protects against peptic ulcers, causes peptic ulcers, protects against cancer, causes cancer, and of course, causes severe GI disturbances. So basically I’m either going to die or be just fine.

What makes food spicy? It’s an antioxidant found in peppers called capsaicin. Capsaicin is most highly concentrated on the membranes of peppers. When consumed, capsaicin binds with pain receptors in the mouth and throat, which are normally responsible for sensing heat

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Fun fact: Capsaicin is the primary ingredient in pepper spray.

A classmate presented a report on capsaicin in my Phytochemicals class. She reviewed a number of studies and review articles on capsaicin and concluded the following:

• There are mixed findings on whether capsaicin is a cancer initiator, cancer promoter, or cancer inhibitor.
• Studies show mixed findings in whether or not they cause stomach ulcers
• — Studies show an increase in energy expenditure when consuming capsaicin in short-term studies.

So… nothing has changed. I’m either going to die or not.

I’ve decided that I’ll continue to risk my life with eating spicy food.

The fact is that capsaicin is an antioxidant, meaning it fights against free radicals, which will decrease your risk of inflammation and cancer cell promotion. Experimental studies on mice show the capsaicin has a protective effect against cancer. The majority of studies claiming that capsaicin causes cancer are epidemiological studies in certain countries that show a positive correlation between capsaicin consumption and cancer. However, correlation does not equal causation. It’s difficult to rule out all the possible confounding factors that could be contributing to the cause of cancer in these regions.

As far as stomach ulcers go, the day I get a stomach ulcer, I’ll rethink my spicy food intake. Spicy food has never caused me any type of GI disturbances, so I can thoroughly enjoy spicy food with no adverse effects.

If spicy food causes you to have unruly BMs… don’t eat it. If it's so hot it's not enjoyable, don't eat it. Rocket science? No, just common sense.

Do I recommend eating spicy food as a means of weight loss? NO. How do you lose weight? By eating healthy food, in the correct portion size, and exercising. There is no magic ingredient in any food that will cause you to lose weight (but there are drugs and pregnant female urine).

Also, the source of capsaicin must be taken into account. If you are getting your capsaicin from the source: serranos, jalepenos, bell peppers, or any other chili pepper, you’re better off than taking it in capsule form. I would never recommend taking any antioxidant in a supplement form. Taking any nutrient in the form of a supplement increases your risk for OD-ing and having negative outcomes. Eating your nutrients from a natural source, in its whole form, will lead to the greatest health benefits.

Chili peppers are high in antioxidants and vitamin C and are a pretty good source of fiber. I think all plant foods have something beneficial to offer us. If they didn’t, then why would they exist?

And seriously, if something’s going to kill me, I doubt it will be a vegetable.