If you’re Nigerian, chances are you’ve had a plate of food so peppery it made your nose run, your eyes water, and your head feel like it was steaming. Expectations if you’re a yoruba born that loves the fiery ata rodo in your stew, spicy suya on the roadside, or a hot bowl of pepper soup.
However the question remains:
Why does spicy food make us sweat like we just ran a marathon?
Spicy food isn’t actually “hot” in the temperature sense. That burning sensation you feel in your mouth is actually a trick caused by a compound called capsaicin.
Capsaicin is the natural chemical found in chili peppers (like ata rodo, shombo, and habanero). It’s what gives them their heat. It interacts with a special type of receptor in your body that acts like a heat sensor. This receptor usually activates when your body touches something really hot—like boiling water or a hot stove.
But when you eat pepper, capsaicin tricks that receptor into thinking you’re experiencing real heat, even though you’re not. So it launches a cooling response in form of sweating. Sweating is your body’s way of cooling down. Just like when you’re under the sun or doing exercise, your body reacts to the “fake heat” from spicy food by making you sweat especially around your face, scalp, and neck.
Is It Dangerous?
Nope! For most people, sweating from spicy food is totally normal and safe. But if you’re not used to hot peppers, it can cause:
- A runny nose
- Tummy upset or heartburn
- Crying (yes, it happens!)
If you want to cool down the reaction, popular knowledge has it that water won’t help much (because capsaicin is oil-based). Instead, try milk (it contains casein, which neutralizes capsaicin), yogurt, rice or bread to absorb some of the heat.
In Nigeria, pepper is not just flavor—it’s culture. We cook with it and fight over it (mild or extra spicy). Some even say a spicy meal feels incomplete without that burning sensation. Interestingly, spicy food may actually help cool the body by encouraging more sweating during hot weather, which helps regulate temperature.
Learnt something new?
Do well to check out other interesting facts on spicy foods on the blog.
AllDiet Food blog 
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