The next time your mouth is on fire after eating a spicy dish, just remember all the good it’s doing your body. Depending on your culture or how sensitive your taste buds are, hot peppers or hot sauce may have been a recurring ingredient in most meals growing up. For those of you who make it a point to avoid anything spicy in your diet, you could be missing out on a versatile health remedy known as capsaicin. By now you’ve realized that a little spice can help relieve your sinus congestion (and make everything nice), but what are some of the other healthy benefits of spicy food?
“I have not seen any negative research on spices,” Joey Gochnour, registered dietitian nutritionist and certified personal trainer, told Medical Daily. “If you like them, I encourage clients to add them to foods and when cooking because they can add flavor to otherwise bland healthy food. The way you enjoy healthier foods is by spicing them up. It can be fun to experiment. Most spices and herbs have negligible calories, especially in amounts used.”
