Welcome to the Ask a Nutritionist podcast, brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness.

We are thrilled to have you join us today as we discuss the connection between what you eat and how you feel and share practical real-life solutions for healthier living through balanced nutrition.

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Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition's midweek segment called Ask a Nutrition. Now let's get started. Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition's

midweek segment called Ask a Nutritionist. I am Brittany Vincent, a registered and licensed

dietitian. On today's show brought to you by Nutrition Weight and Wellness, I will be

answering a nutrition question we've received from one of our Dishing Up Nutrition listeners.

And the question today is, do spicy foods help or hinder inflammation?

So generally speaking, spicy foods are very healthy.

And usually when people think of spicy foods, they're often referring to

spicy peppers found in foods. Spicy peppers contain something called capsicinoids, which include the

compound capsacinin. And that's the chemical component of peppers that actually create that spicy taste that you get.

And research has shown that capsacin has a variety of different health benefits, including in improving inflammation,

which is what the listener's original question was.

So I want to elaborate on all of that today.

You know, I found it interesting in doing research that

Kepsaicin is actually the main ingredient in a lot of different ointments,

lotions, patches that are used for pain relief.

And capsaicin actually reduces the pain signals from nerve endings to your brain.

Other benefits of spicy foods, specifically that include capsaic from the spicy peppers.

Capsin supports normal circulation, blood flow, and just overall cardiovascular health,

as well as decreasing the risk of heart disease.

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