# Hiccuping after eating hot pepper **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991 "2012-02-16T01:49:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991/1 "2012-02-16T01:49:15Z")
[This guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9yZJnyPDSg) ate a super hot pepper and after ingesting it, he started to hiccup. Is it the pepper (or the heat therein) that caused him to do that? (If so, why?) Or is it just because he “inhaled” the pepper? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991/2 "2012-02-16T01:51:07Z")
same thing happens to me. I don’t know why. For some reason it’s only when actually eating a raw pepper; even a jalapeno will do this to me. if it’s just a tremendously spicy dish, I won’t get hiccups. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991/3 "2012-02-16T02:19:49Z")
For me, any hot and spicy dish does it. Spanish rice, Thai curry, even generic take-out Kung Pao chicken, or 7-11 Buffalo Chicken rollers. i.e., only “hot” to a Yank! Hiccup uncontrollably. And…go back for more! Yum! ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991/4 "2012-02-16T18:35:54Z")
I’ve got 3 friends that like spicy foods. One sweats, the next get tremors and the third get the hiccups. It’s like my meals come with their own floor show. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991/5 "2012-02-16T19:20:56Z")
This happens to me occasionally. I believe the spicy food is stimulating the vagus nerve (innervates the esophagus). I have gastroesphageal reflux; esophageal wall inflammation due to reflux probably enhances this mechanism. Vagus nerve stimulation can also cure hiccups. This is the proposed mechanism for cures involving swallowing a spoonful of granular sugar or salt (yuch!). I chew an antacid tablet into coarse chunks and swallow that- it works well and helps the reflux, too. I now take an acid blocker and I have this symptom much less frequently. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991/6 "2012-02-16T20:22:39Z")
I’ve heard there’s no explanation for hiccups, but my theory is that hiccups are a primitive mechanism to expel or dislodge food that causes a negative reaction in the body. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiccuping-after-eating-hot-pepper/612991/7 "2012-02-17T00:26:58Z")
It is thought to be a vestigial reflex related to amphibian (tadpole) breathing.