Can spicy foods cause an ulcer?
Q: My husband loves hot chili peppers. He puts hot sauce on just about everything but ice cream — eggs, burgers, vegetables, you name it. He loves salsa, but I fear that all this hot stuff could cause an ulcer. Am I worrying needlessly? A: Although spicy food is thought to be bad for digestion, there is little data to support this belief. There is even a suggestion that the essence of hot peppers (capsaicin) might be good for combating indigestion (New England Journal of Medicine, March 21, 2002). Peanut-butter caution Q: You’ve discussed remedies for hiccups in your column. You got a warning about eating peanut butter off a spoon and responded: “If someone has trouble swallowing, it would be prudent to avoid peanut butter. But for most folks, we can’t see how it would matter much if the peanut butter were on a piece of celery or just licked off a spoon.” Actually, it could be a matter of life and death. I lost a good friend in January because she choked to death on 2 tablespoons of pe
