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How your hot sauce could trigger a heart attack or even kill you - and the type experts say NEVER to touch
Experts have warned of the deadly risks of eating extremely spicy food, claiming that for high-risk people, hot chillis act like 'a bomb in the stomach'.
Compounds in some chilli plants can cause blood vessels to constrict, dramatically raising blood pressure and heart rate, increasing the risk of heart attacks.
According to Dr Allan Capin, an urgent care physician at the Cleveland Clinic, this is a particular risk for people with an enlarged heart and congenital heart defects.
Dr Capin's warning comes amid the emergence of a viral video in which a young man collapsed after a single bite of 'the world's hottest curry'.
The clip, which has been watched six million times on X, sees a man—identified only as Daniel—fleeing the restaurant The Bengal Village in East London, moments after trying the dish.
The restaurant's owner, Mr Raj, is seen telling Daniel he will soon recover, and urging him to drink a mango lassi.
The potential health dangers of eating extremely hot chillies is due to high levels of capsaicin, the component that gives it the heat.
While experts noted it is rare to die from high levels of capsaicin, it's not impossible.
The latest video emerged two years after the shock death of Massachusetts teenager Harris Wolobah, 14.
He suffered a fatal heart attack in September 2023, after eating the alleged spiciest crisp in the world, as part of a social media challenge.
An autopsy found that the student suffered from an underlying heart condition that was exacerbated by the huge dose of capsaicin.
Dr James Udelson, chief of cardiology at Tufts Medical Center, previously said that a 'significant stimulation of the heart,' from for example, eating extremely spicy food, could result in abnormal blood flow and irregular heartbeats.
'There have been reports of acute toxicity with capsaicin causing ischemia (abnormal blood flow) of the heart muscles,' he added.
However, scientists are unsure exactly how much capsaicin is enough to cause a fatal reaction as it can also vary by individual.
Spicy foods and ingredients are usually ranked by what is known as the Scoville Scale.
For example, 'Pepper X'—the world's hottest chilli—scores nearly 2.7million on the scale. In contrast the humble jalapeno scores a mere 5,000.
Experts say there is no defined point on the Scoville scale where consuming an item gets dangerous.
However, generally the higher you go the stronger the adverse effects such as acid reflux, digestive issues and even potentially fatal heart issues.
There have been documented cases where people have been hospitalised such as one man who ate at least four chillies that ranked around one million on the Soville Scale.
Experts broadly recommend people steer clear of hot sauces that boast being the 'hottest in the world'.
Some of the sauces that have been highlighted are The Last Dab Xperience and The End: Flatline, which are available on Amazon.
More than 90 per cent of the Last Dab Xperience's ingredients include dried, fresh, or distilled Pepper X.
Meanwhile, the The End: Flatline showcases a flatlining EKG, which happens when the heart stops beating, on its label.
It's description says: 'This is a warning, and a real warning, not like some of the funny, we-only-sorta-mean-it warnings on our other hot sauces: This is our hottest hot sauce.'
Experts have previously warned about spicy food after people posted videos of themselves eating extremely hot chillies on TikTok.
One video posted by @Ramizeinn, who has 16.3m followers, sees him eat several ghost chillies before glugging down a carton of milk and visibly looking in pain.
In another video, posted by @peteypappi, who has 658,000 followers, sees two people go attempt to eat the peppers but give up halfway through.
Dr Duane Mellor, a dietitian at Aston University in Birmingham, warned eating these hot chillies could trigger digestive problems and, in extreme cases, even raise the risk of cancer.
That's because spicy foods are known to trigger acid reflux — when stomach acid travels towards the throat.
'If this goes on for a long time, it can result in changes to our oesophagus and may increase risk of cancer,' said Dr Mellor.
This was the findings of a 2022 study that revealed high spicy food intake can increase your risk of oesophageal cancer.
