This health advice is HOT

Americans can’t agree on many things these days. 

But it appears that people of all stripes are in love with at least one thing: hot sauce. 

Over the last 10 years, hot sauce sales have been blowing up. 

Whether it’s Tabasco, Frank’s, Sriracha, Cholula… doesn’t matter. They’re all growing, and fast.

Tabasco has been around for more than 150 years and hasn’t seen growth like this in a long time. They put out a super-hot sauce called “Scorpion” and it created a waiting list almost overnight.

Old Bay did the same last year and they sold through their inventory in just a few hours!

Young bucks like to prove their mettle by taking the heat index of food up to “scorching,” but it’s natural for older people to gravitate to hot foods too.

After all, your taste buds lose a little of their luster, and you need something to spice things up.

And get this: all this hot sauce is actually good for you. 

Imagine that. Something popular that’s not going to kill you!

Hot peppers are loaded with antioxidants that can even slow cancer growth. They have phytonutrients that protect against macular degeneration and cataracts. 

And while it seems counterintuitive, the capsaicin in hot sauces actually lower blood pressure. It relaxes blood vessels, so blood flows more freely. 

And, if you deal with seasonal allergies or you’re stuck with a cold, a dash of something spicy can open up your sinuses and get you breathing again.

Hot sauce can even tame arthritis pain. 

I guess if your mouth is hurting, you forget about your hands!

If you’re dealing with pain, eating something hot can actually ease arthritis pain and other aches. The brain senses the hot sauce and releases endorphins, which reduce inflammation all over the body. 

No wonder people like it hot.

Just be careful. I can remember one time I had some of the guys over for the game and I broke out this sauce I got as a gift. 

Something called “Dave’s Insanity Sauce.”

Now, I put just a dash into a huge pot of gumbo and it gave it a mighty kick. But one of my friends decided to turn it up a notch. 

He threw a bunch more of this devil’s fire right in his own bowl, and the next thing you know he was hiccupping, crying, and generally looking like someone shot his dog.

And I can’t even imagine what it was like when it came out the other end. 

Do you have a favorite hot sauce? Let me know so I can try it!

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Comments

Hughbert Robinson - August 6, 2021

Jeff,
My two favorites are Diablo from Taco Bell and Valentina Mexican Hot sauce Extra Hot!
Ole! CALIENTE!

Yancey Summerour - August 6, 2021

My favorite hot sauce (at the moment) is something that I just bought called MELINDA’S Habanero Honey Mustard Pepper Sauce & Condiment. On the bottle it says that it’s a product of Colombia and shows the heat to be 3 out of 5 peppers. It makes my nose run when I eat it; that shows that it’s good and hot to me. I love hot sauce for the most part. I had some peppers in Jamaica years ago that were pretty hot that they called scotch bonnets. They looked like what are called habaneros elsewhere, but they were about the same heat wise, pretty hot. I could expound on this subject some more, but I’ll stop so as not to risk boring some people.

Jerry C - August 6, 2021

This was a good one. It was good you had a friend who like to show all of you a good time watching him suffer from the hot! One time in Nevada we ordered food in a dim lit dining spot. They brought out bowl of what we thought was butter and some rolls. He grabbed roll and knifed into the “butter” bowl just as I did but I waited for the thought of horse reddish crossed my mind and I got small amt on my knife. As I was debating he ate his quickly and then it was terrible and even scared me for he lost his breath, couldn’t breathe it was soooo hot!…He was panicking..and I laughed so hard after he finally was able to get his breath. Thanks for the laugh and memory I conjured up!

ROXIE FOX - August 6, 2021

I was born and raised in the Chile capital of the world. Green Chile is grown in Hatch, New Mexico. I was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico is which is near Hatch. The best Mexican Restaurant in the world is La Posta in Old Mesilla. It is an old pony Express stop, and has a Billy the kid museum, and many gift shops of South West Jewelry, art, and decorations. People travel from far away to eat at La Posta. All varieties of Mexican food and Chiles are found in the Mesilla Valley in New Mexico.

James F. McRae - August 6, 2021

Love your message about hot sauce. My local pub/ bar called “Malones” has it’s own hot sauce that it grows at home. It’s called “FCC Sauce”, meaning Full Colon Cleanse. It gets you going pretty fast. We have a Mexican restaurant here called “Mexhico” and the owner is Mexican. He has sauces that get hotter as the number on the bottle goes up. I sometimes mix the FCC sauce with hot horseradish and a pinch of maple syrup. My friends think I’m nuts. Keep up the good columns. Jim from Barrie, Ontario, just north of Toronto.

Dan - August 6, 2021

I have used capsaicin over the last 50years for my sinus, acid reflux, inflammation and as a blood thinner.
The only side effect I have had is if I take to much I my get a nose bleed easily. Two sinus surgeries

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