Three Dangers of Consuming Spicy Food Too Often According to UM Surabaya Lecturers

• 09 Aug
• 2022

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Three Dangers of Consuming Spicy Food Too Often According to UM Surabaya Lecturers

• Article
• By Uswah Sahal
• Health
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Spicy food is a favorite of most people. Many people feel less comfortable consuming food if the food does not have a spicy taste. Especially now that many viral foods are popping up that offer a spicy to very spicy taste (depending on the number of chili levels).

Ira Purnamasari Lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences (FIK) UM Surabaya explained that the capsaicin substance in chili peppers makes a burning feeling on the tongue. This causes the body to stimulate the brain to release endorphins to relieve heat and burning and the hormone dopamine to trigger feelings of happiness.

"That's why spicy food tastes so delicious and makes you addicted even though your tongue feels hot and burning," explained Ira Tuesday (9/8/22)

Ira explained that several studies have explained that capsaicin has benefits as an anticoagulant which reduces the risk of heart disease, hypertension and stroke. However, if consumed in excess can cause health problems.

The first impact if consuming too much spicy food is gastritis (ulcer). Spicy food can cause stomach acid to rise quickly in response to irritation of the stomach wall due to spicy food.

"If left continuously it can cause the surface of the stomach to become fragile and cause inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis), resulting in symptoms such as heartburn, flatulence, nausea and vomiting," he added.

This puts you at risk of experiencing GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), namely stomach acid rising up to the esophagus which causes the chest and throat to feel hot and burning.

The second impact, consuming too much spicy food causes the intestine to respond excessively by accelerating intestinal movements (peristalsis) coupled with more water production in the intestine due to an irritant response in the intestine causing diarrhea after consuming spicy food.

Lastly is insomnia. According to Ira, if spicy food is consumed at night before bedtime, it will result in a bloated stomach, a feeling of fullness and discomfort in the stomach, causing heartburn and twisting to appear.

"This results in discomfort when lying down to sleep, causing sleep disturbances at night (insomnia) thereby reducing sleep quality," he concluded.