Some people love it, others can't stand it: spicy food! It's also often claimed that eating it comes with health benefits. We look at what's behind this myth and how much spice is healthy.
What is spiciness?
Here's a surprise: spiciness has nothing to do with our sense of taste. When we describe something as "hot", what we actually mean is our body's reaction to that particular food: pain! We get warm, the tongue burns slightly and beads of sweat can even form on the forehead.
It's also worth saying that spiciness isn't just one single substance in food, there are lots of them. Specifically, the heat in ginger isn't the same as in chilli or pepper: ginger contains the active compound gingerol, turmeric has curcumin, chillies have capsaicin and pepper has piperine.
Is spicy food good for your health?
Going by the definition above, it can't be good for our body, right? But some analyses have actually found that spiciness (here we're talking about capsaicin, the heat of chilli) can have positive effects on the body.
It has been shown that spiciness can get digestion going. Your digestion can benefit from spicy food too! Spice stimulates the production of gastric juice, so heavy meals combined with spice are easier to digest. Capsaicin also widens blood vessels, which leads to better blood flow and keeps your circulation going.
Spicy food can make you happy, too. When our body reacts to the pain, endorphins are released to ease it. So it's not unusual for spicy food to make people happy.
Some people can never get it hot enough.
The flip side of spicy food
As so often, the dose makes the poison. So don't overdo the spicy food. Be careful if you have a sensitive stomach: the heat can also irritate your stomach and gut lining! Spice tolerance is also a matter of getting used to it. If you suddenly eat food that's too hot, it can even lead to vomiting, irritation of the mucous membranes and high blood pressure. So ease yourself into spicy food slowly if you'd like to try it.
Spicy eating with frank juice
The frank team likes it hot too! Our shots and even some of our soups contain ginger, turmeric, chilli and pepper. With the soups we're a little more careful with the amount, since tastes are famously different. If you'd like more, just add some chilli seasoning!
We have one last tip for you: if it ever gets too hot, you can put out the fire with milk or bread with butter (or other fat). That's not just a rumour, because spiciness is fat-soluble.
Some love it, others can't stand it: spicy food! It's also often claimed that eating it brings health benefits. We explain what's behind this myth and how much spice is healthy.
What is spiciness?
Picture this: spiciness has nothing to do with our sense of taste. When we describe something as "hot", we are actually talking about our body's reaction to a particular food: pain! We get warm, the tongue burns slightly and beads of sweat can even form on the forehead.
It should also be said that spiciness isn't just one single substance in food, there are many of them. To be specific: the heat in ginger isn't the same as in chilli or pepper. Ginger contains the active compound gingerol, turmeric contains curcumin, chillies contain capsaicin and pepper contains piperine.
Is spicy food good for your health?
Going by the definition of spiciness above, it can't be good for our body, can it? But in fact, some analyses have shown that spiciness (here we're referring to capsaicin, the heat of chilli) also has positive effects on the body.
It has been shown that spiciness can get digestion going. Your digestion can also benefit from spicy food! The heat stimulates the production of gastric juice, so heavy meals combined with spice are easier to digest. Capsaicin also widens the blood vessels, which results in better circulation and keeps your circulatory system going.
Spicy food can also make you happy. When our body reacts to the pain, endorphins are released to ease it. So it's not unusual for spicy food to make you feel happy.
Some can't get it hot enough.
The downside of spicy food
As so often, the dose makes the poison. So you shouldn't overdo spicy food. Be careful if you have a sensitive stomach: the heat can also irritate your stomach and intestinal lining! Spiciness is also a matter of getting used to it. If you suddenly eat food that's too hot, it can even lead to vomiting, irritation of the mucous membranes and high blood pressure. So ease yourself into spicy food slowly if you want to try it.
Eating spicy with frank.
The frank. team likes it hot too! Our shots and even some of our soups, juices and juice cleanses contain ginger, turmeric, chilli or pepper. With the soups we're a bit more careful with the amount, as tastes are known to differ. If you'd like more, just season it with chilli spice!
We have one last tip for you: if it ever gets too hot, you can put out the fire with milk or bread with butter (or another fat). That's not just a rumour, because spiciness is fat-soluble.
