If you suffer from hemorrhoids, or what some people call piles, you may be wondering if your diet is to blame.
The condition’s more common in adults, and it’s sometimes linked to people who sit around too much, aren’t getting enough exercise, or people who drink too much coffee and tea. It’s also sometimes linked to people who eat too much junk food. But can spicy food be part of the problem? According to one nutritionist, the answer is no.
It's true that your diet plays a part in how well food is passed through your body.
You may have even heard people make the connection between spicy food and hemorrhoids before. According to an expert, spicy food isn’t the problem. In fact, reports suggest there aren’t even any studies out there to support a connection between eating spicy food and developing hemorrhoids. While eating spicy foods may not actually cause hemorrhoids, that doesn’t mean you may not experience a little discomfort after eating spicy food. The capsaicin in hot peppers is there to keep pests away as peppers grow, but it's no match for the acid that’s already in your stomach during digestion. While you may sometimes have a little discomfort at the end of the digestive process, it could simply mean something you ate hasn’t been fully digested before passing through your body.
If you feel too much discomfort, you can always change up your diet and lower the heat level.
If it’s just a little discomfort and you enjoy eating spicy food, there are plenty of health benefits tied to things like hot peppers. Try experimenting a little with the hot pepper scale. There are all kinds of peppers on the heat scale, and they vary greatly in terms of heat. It’s up to you to find just the right comfort level to fit your taste.