Can munching red hot peppers and sizzling hot sauces harm you?

It may burn your tongue at the dinner table and trigger some gastrointestinal distress as it travels through your body

Capsaicin, the ingredient found in peppers that causes that characteristic heat, is an oil-like chemical compound

It's the capsaicin that causes your brains to feel like you're on fire when you bite into a jalapeno pepper

it tricks your brain into thinking a temperature change has occurred, resulting in the sensation of heat and pain

It's just your body's attempt to cool down and purge the more memorable spice-induced symptoms, like runny noses, sweating, teary eyes

The study found that while consuming hot food, body temperature does actually rise in an effort to cool the body down

But the short-term struggle may be worth it for the long-term payoff, the investigators suggested