Overview
About Spicy Foods
Pungency grades how hot an ingredient tastes, covering both the capsaicin heat of chilli and the sharp mustard-oil heat of wasabi, horseradish and mustard.
In the data
Where you will find spicy foods
- Chilli peppers are nightshades, so hot sauce is a trigger for the nightshade-sensitive, and the capsaicin separately irritates the gut and reflux
- Moderate FODMAP overall, but lower in fructans than garlic-and-onion sauces like sriracha, so a plain chilli-vinegar sauce is often the easier choice for IBS
- A nightshade from the red chilli, which matters if you react to peppers, paprika or cayenne
- Contains chilli, so it counts as a nightshade, and the garlic and onion push it high in fructans (a FODMAP)
- Capsaicin heat can aggravate acid reflux, IBS and an already-irritated gut even when the pepper is otherwise clean
Examples
A few ingredients either way
Rated high
Grading
How we grade spicy foods
Every ingredient in the database carries one grade for spicy foods, and this page, the checker and the app all read that same grade. It describes the ingredient as it is usually eaten. Portion size and preparation move it.
Practical
Working with spicy foods
- Step down a grade at a time rather than cutting heat out completely.
- Test chilli heat separately from mustard and horseradish heat, since they work through different pathways.
- Keep a detailed food and symptom diary to track your personal reactions
- Eliminate the suspected trigger completely for 2-4 weeks
- Reintroduce gradually to find your personal tolerance threshold
- Work with a healthcare provider or registered dietitian for guidance
- Remember that food sensitivities can change over time
Method
Test it with a diary
Most people find their own triggers by logging meals and symptoms for a few weeks and reading the result back. Three steps.
- 1Log every meal for a few weeks. Type it, say it out loud, or scan a barcode, and it lands as a list of ingredients.
- 2Rate how you feel through the day on whatever you are tracking, whether that is bloating, headaches, skin or sleep.
- 3Read the pattern back. Every ingredient you logged is scored against the days you felt worse, and the result ranks spicy foods against everything else you eat.
Questions
Questions people ask
What is the difference between cayenne, paprika and chili powder as triggers?
All three are nightshades, but cayenne is a single hot pepper ground on its own, so it is both very high heat and high in salicylates. Chili powder is usually a blend that includes cumin and other spices, and paprika is milder and sweeter. If you are tracking triggers, cayenne carries the heaviest salicylate and capsaicin punch of the three per pinch.
More about cayenne pepperWhy does chili garlic sauce bother my stomach more than plain hot sauce?
The difference is the garlic. Plain hot sauces are mostly pepper and vinegar, but chili garlic sauce is heavy on fresh garlic, and garlic is one of the highest fructan foods there is. Fructans ferment in the gut and are a leading cause of IBS-style bloating, so the garlic, not the chili, is usually what upsets a sensitive stomach.
More about chili garlic sauceIs chili garlic sauce low FODMAP?
No. Chili garlic sauce is packed with fresh garlic, which is extremely high in fructans, a FODMAP that commonly causes bloating and gas. Even small amounts can be a problem on a low FODMAP diet. A garlic-infused oil gives the flavor without the fructans, since fructans do not dissolve into oil.
More about chili garlic sauceWhy does piri piri burn even though I am not sensitive to chili?
Capsaicin activates heat and pain receptors directly. That is a mechanical irritation of the tissue, not an immune or enzyme problem, so it happens to everyone to some degree and has nothing to do with whether you carry a nightshade sensitivity. It commonly shows up as reflux or as urgency a few hours later, and it fades on its own. A true nightshade reaction is slower and tends to be joint or skin flavoured.
More about piri piri sauceRead next
Where to go next
Get started
Tracking spicy foods?
Log what you eat and how you feel, and the app finds the pattern for you. Or look an ingredient up here first.