Spicy food

[Seren]

Whenever I put spices (hot ones like cayenne pepper etc) in my food I get a runny nose. Is this a way of my body showing me I shouldn't have it? I know it happens to a lot of people. It may seem like a stupid question I was just wondering about the reasoning of a runny nose with spicy food?

Seren xXx

[Coriander74]

I forget what the exact biological reason is for this, but a LOT of people have this happen with spicy or temperature-hot foods. Have you ever noticed that when you have hot soup on a cold day your nose runs?

Just think of it as clearing things out ;)

[Coriander74]

ok I looked it up, here's something...

" It's been well documented that spicy foods--particularly hot peppers, Tabasco sauce and other foods with capsaicin--help relieve congestion. It may seem like a contradiction, because this hot stuff triggers the same reflex that causes a runny nose.

So why eat spicy food? "Blasting yourself with hot and spicy food might be a good way to increase the nasal discharge to the point where it will remove whatever is causing it to run. In addition, this same response releases chemicals in the nose that protect you against infection," says Gordon Raphael, M.D., an allergist and former researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. "It certainly won't hurt you and could be very beneficial." "

Source for above quote (http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/48/174.cfm)

[juliebove]

It's a normal reaction. I use hot pepper nasal spray for a stuffy nose. Can be a bit irritating to spray it at times, but highly effective.

[Lady Green Jeans]

I've noticed it, too and figured it was a cleansing thing. Have also heard cayenne helps cleanse by irritating and helps cut the mucus in the system. Don't really know if there is truth to both claims, but I do include fairly often in dishes for the added warmth that I no longer get since I'm not cooking things. Comfort food I guess.

[KombuchaCHIC]

This happens with me too...I don't think it is a sign that we shouldn't eat it. Hot peppers are a natural decongestant among other things. I actually like it when that happens, because it feels like it is clearing up my nasal passages. It's kind of a cleansing thing for me. :)