Whether you love Indian, Chinese, and or Mexican food, there is one common theme behind these types of cuisines: they're spicy. There are people who feel that the food is bland when it's not scorching the insides of their mouths. It's understandable, but your friends may feel weirded out and make fun of you for eating while streams of sweat pour down your cheeks.

Fortunately, you can simply tell them you're doing this to keep yourself healthy. You see, eating spicy food has a number of benefits. There are also quite a few downsides, to doing so as well, so you may need to be wary about eating too much!

Positive effects

According to a study published here, spicy food can undoubtedly make you live longer. 

"There is accumulating evidence from mostly experimental research to show the benefit of spices or their active components on human health," said Lu Qi, an associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health and the proponent of the study. 

Furthermore, a study from China found that people who eat spicy food six or seven times a week were at a lower risk (by 14%) of premature death than those who didn't. 

An active bioactive ingredient in chili peppers, Capsaicin, is linked to increased fat burning. This in turn makes spicy food a must for people who wish to lose weight. Moreover, another study published in Purdue university made the link between spicy food and feeling full - it concluded that people who ate them felt more satiated. 

Spicy food is also said to have anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial benefits. 

Negative effects

Eating too much spicy food does have its downsides as well. 

The first being the obvious: having them temporarily scorch the taste buds. The effect can wear off after a period of time, but it's an extremely uncomfortable feeling. 

Also, if you regularly experience hemorrhoids, eating spicy food may give you the worst bowel movements. Capasaicin does not break down when it leaves the digestive tract, so it's likely to scorch you when it's in the process of leaving the body!