🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Chili should be consumed wisely to obtain essential nutrients. Nutritionists recommend raw consumption, as capsaicin-sensitive vitamin C in chili peppers degrades easily when stored too long or cooked excessively. Thus, consume them fresh, either raw or as salad ingredients. Remember to add them at the final stage of cooking to prevent nutrient loss.
Health Benefits of Eating Chili
Color correlates with spiciness: red chilies are generally spicier than green ones, and green ones spicier than purple, yellow, or black chilies. This is because chilies turn red upon full ripening—the peak of spiciness—while yellow and purple varieties are mostly sweet peppers.
When chili’s spiciness stimulates nerve endings on the tongue and mouth, the brain immediately triggers a full-body alert: increased heart rate, heightened saliva or sweat secretion, intensified gastrointestinal activity, and release of endorphins. Each additional bite causes the brain to perceive pain again, releasing even more endorphins. Continuous release of endorphins induces a sense of relaxation and excitement, creating the “pleasure” after eating spicy food. Another reason for chili addiction lies in capsaicin’s effect: when taste cells contact capsaicin, they become more sensitive, enhancing perception of food’s deliciousness.
As long as the mouth isn’t burned, eating chili actually increases taste sensitivity. Additionally, chili consumption boosts saliva and gastric juice secretion, accelerates intestinal motility. When appetite declines or meal portions decrease, people often crave chili. Regardless of whether one becomes addicted to spice, moderate chili intake offers certain therapeutic benefits. Chili benefits health by: improving digestion, aiding gastric function; preventing gallstones; lowering blood sugar; and contributing to weight loss.
Who Should Avoid Chili
More and more people are interested in chili, believing it helps dispel cold and dampness. With the rise of hotpot restaurants, clay pot eateries, and spicy hot soup stalls, chili-containing dishes have become widespread in homes. However, not everyone should eat chili. These individuals should limit chili intake:
Those suffering from heat-related illnesses, ulcers, chronic gastrointestinal disorders, hemorrhoids, dermatitis, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, or hypertension. Research shows that consuming large amounts of capsaicin-rich chili leads to excessive digestive fluid secretion, causing mucosal congestion, edema, and accelerated intestinal movement—triggering gastritis, enteritis, diarrhea, vomiting, and hindering recovery of digestive function. Overconsumption also increases heart rate and blood volume, worsening conditions in cardiovascular patients.
Skinny individuals should avoid excessive chili. From a TCM perspective, thin people often have yin deficiency and heat constitution—“thin people tend to have internal fire.” Such individuals commonly exhibit dry throat, bitter mouth, eye congestion, dizziness, irritability, and anger. Consuming more chili worsens these symptoms and increases risks of bleeding, allergies, inflammation, and even boils or infections.
Hyperthyroid patients should not eat chili. Hyperthyroid patients are usually in a state of high excitement, so they should avoid strong stimulants like chili. Since hyperthyroidism already causes rapid heartbeat, chili consumption further accelerates heart rate, worsening symptoms.
Patients with kidney disease should avoid chili. Research indicates that chili and other spicy foods (like scallions, ginger, garlic, curry, mustard, pepper) and aromatic spices (such as coriander, fennel, celery, radish), along with herbs rich in volatile oils, undergo metabolism via the kidneys. Their pungent components stimulate kidney tissue cells to varying degrees, potentially impairing kidney function under severe conditions.