That Hot Sauce Obsession May Not Be Harmless After All

Hot Take: If you’ve never understood the appeal of drowning your eggs in ghost pepper sauce, a new review published in Frontiers in Nutrition finally provides you with a real argument against it beyond “that just seems like masochism.” Researchers have found that people who eat the most chili peppers face a higher risk of esophageal cancer than those who eat little to none.

The Study: The review combined data from 14 studies covering more than 11,000 people, including over 5,000 diagnosed with digestive tract cancers. People with the highest chili pepper intake had about a 64% higher risk of gastrointestinal cancers overall compared to the lowest consumers. Esophageal cancer showed the strongest link, with heavy consumers facing nearly triple the risk of light consumers. Stomach and colorectal cancers showed similar trends, but they didn’t reach statistical significance.

The Takeaway: Experts say there isn’t enough evidence to tell healthy people to stop eating spicy food entirely. However, chronic reflux is already a known risk factor for esophageal cancer, so if spicy food keeps triggering your heartburn, that’s a solid reason to cut back.

Keep in Mind: Researchers have pinpointed a connection between chili peppers and esophageal cancer, but they can’t yet say the peppers themselves caused it.