Can eating spicy foods physically hurt you?

Factual Questions
1

I have been wondering this for a long time and thought maybe someone can answer this for me.

I love spicy foods, especially mexican food and anything with cayenne pepper. I was wondering if eating spicy foods can physically hurt you in any way. I know you get the burning sensation when you eat something too spicy, but does it cause lasting damage?

2

Rarely will it cause lasting damage. Note I say rarely, and not never. If you have an eroding gastric ulcer, and put capsaicin (the “hot” in spicy foods) on it, it will further irritate and inflame it. If you have bad reflux esophagitis, capsaicin can make it worse. It can aggravate pre-existing conditions.

But usually it doesn’t.

QtM, MD

3

Doesn’t capsaicin destroy taste buds? Sure, they’ll grow back, but I’m imagining a vicious cycle where one eats spicy foods and continues to add spice because one can’t taste it any more…

4

Capsaicin temporarily numbs taste buds (at least some of the receptors, anyway), but does not kill them.

5

Here is an interesting article on the properties of capsaicin:

6

That link doesn’t seem to work for some reason. Here is a relevant extract from the page:

7

Really hot spicy foods screw up your mind. Why else would anyone subject themselves to that kind of torture. For the endorphin rush, I guess. I like it, anyway.
I read that capsaicin could do harm, but it’s so dilute in foods that all it does is temporarily maim you.
Peace,
mangeorge

8

Man chillies get me so high! Beats alchohol or other illegal drugs any day!

9

BAD for you?? I could’ve sworn I heard of some study done somewhere (don’t I present a compelling case?) which indicated that spicy foods were good for the heart (No, I’m not talking about the “beans” rhyme.) Anyone care to verify?

10

I suppose you could have an anaphylactic reaction to the hot food.

I hope my spelling is correct there.