I'm generally very uncomfortable around bathroom humor/topics, but i gotta know. Are people really suffering down there from spicy foods? I love spicy food. Like, it took many, many visits before i convinced the indian restaurant near us to give me genuinely spicy food. Now they make it like they make it for themselves.

And don't get me wrong, I've had the burning booty of death before, but the two things aren't really linked. Like, spiciness has no impact on my bathrooming. I only ever get the burn down there if I'm sick. Is this seriously a problem people have when they so much as smell a bell pepper, as the internet has led me to believe?

[–] Sekrayray@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It’s really weird, but as I’ve aged spicy food has really begun to bother me. I absolutely LOVE how it tastes in my mouth—even the hottest levels of heat are enjoyable to me.

I’d say around the age of 25 it started bothering me some. Then it got worse as I approached 30. Now in my early 30s I can hardly eat anything that’s above “mild” without GI distress several hours later. I’m talking about a horrible burning sensation in my abdomen where it feels as though I can actually track the food moving through my GI tract. The next day I feel ill enough on the toilet that I have to make sure I don’t have plans for the first 1-2 hours of my day.

It’s super sad because I love spicy food, but it’s not worth the payback. I myself work in healthcare and I’ve searched and searched for something that can physiologically explain that phenomenon (getting worse over the years) and there’s not really anything explained in the literature. All I can think of is something to do with changes in GI flora.

[–] slaacaa@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Yes, it’s an age thing. Even a few years ago I was impressing my asian colleagues with how much I can take, and regularly ate ghost chili and carolina reapers for fun with friends.

Now at 35, had/have some problems down there, and the doctor told me to lay off spicy food, as I had a minor inflammation of my colon.

Same conclusion as you, I love it, but it’s just not worth it. Good news though: I heard that it’s really just a tolerance building thing, so if I stay off really spicy foods for a while, then I should be able to enjoy light spices later.

[–] jballs@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah mine has gotten worse over time as well. When I was a teenager, I could eat anything. Now if I get a half scoop of the Chipotle hot salsa on my burrito, I'll start feeling it 3 or 4 hours later. It sucks.

[–] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You ask the indians to increase the spice, I AM the indian who increases the spice levels.

[–] DharmaCurious@startrek.website 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Please make me your spicy ass food, please.

[–] SnokenKeekaGuard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 7 months ago

Cmon over anytime

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

You don't eat as spicy as you think you do then...

[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Because it's so hard to believe that some people's digestive systems work differently. Gut microflora is notoriously undiverse in humans. Surely the more likely explanation is that the person you're responding to managed to go their whole life without ever eating spicy food despite actively seeking it out. /s

Maybe there's a spice level at which I'd get bad shits, but I haven't gotten so much as a tingle yet and I already have the highest tolerance than any white guy I know. You can be a spice snob and say "you haven't met my guy Rajesh yet", but almost no-one saying "spice gives me bad shits" has met Rajesh either so I don't see the point.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

As I replied in another comment, do an "hot ones" evening going all the way up to 1m SHU and tell me your ass came out ok.

[–] ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Done this for fun several time with friends. Not an issue. That da bomb sauce def burns the mouth tho.

[–] ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Just made salsa last night.

4 tomato 1 onion 1 bunch of cilantro 1 lime 6 Serrano 6 jalapeño 6 habanero Salt

That’s about 1 habanero per small bowl. Most people wouldn’t eat a full habanero, or even taste that salsa.

Never had an issue internally with spicy food.

[–] Droggelbecher@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It has never happened to me and I'm a spice fiend too. I've never gotten diarrhea from Mexican food either.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago

My girlfriend felt the same way until we had a "Hot Ones" party where the spiciest sauce was 750 000 SHU. She went to the bathroom the next morning and I just heard "Ooooooooooooh"...

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 1 points 7 months ago

I've heard before that it helps a lot, if you eat a lot of fiber...

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Also your digestive system does not process the stuff in less than 24h i believe, so the time frame doesnt make sense.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

That varies from person to person.

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Just checked cuz i have been asking myself that a couple times and apparently it's 50 hours on average

[–] numberfour002@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

50 hours sounds like that's average for how long it takes for food items to be fully digested and completely excreted from the body under normal circumstances, but not necessarily an average minimum amount of time for how long it takes food to start exiting the body in feces.

Those are very different data points, especially in the context of a discussion about spicy foods.

Spicy hot foods are typically spicy because of a chemical called capsaicin, which is an irritant in mammals. In high enough amounts and/or in sensitive people, capsaicin can irritate the lining of the digestive system and that irritation can have a laxative-like effect to varying degrees. In response to irritation, digestive motility / speed will increase, and the general trend is that the quicker something moves through the digestive tract, the less completely it is processed and digested.

Basically, if someone eats too much spicy food for their tolerance level, it is fairly typical for that to move through the digestive system more quickly than average AND the feces will contain proportionally more capsaicin. So, bowel movements less than 24 - 50 hours after eating the spicy food and a burning sensation associated with the act due to undigested capsaicin actually does make sense.

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 7 months ago

i see, that makes sense i guess.

thanks for the quick summary :D

[–] ngdev@lemmy.world 0 points 7 months ago

As someone who thinks the "Last Dab" sauces from Hot Ones aren't spicy enough, no. Your body adapts. I only burn my hole if I eat something that's too salty now.

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 5 points 7 months ago

Not about the stomach, it's about the heat on the way out!

[–] xpinchx@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

I used to love spicy food but I have a sensitive tummy now.

[–] Wanderer@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago

I weirdly had this issue but over the years I have continued to eat hotter and hotter food and the arsehole issue has gone away completely. Unless I get the shits for some other unrelated reason.