Why there is a runny nose when eating spicy?

When you eat spicy foods, oral cavities – nose – throat and digestive system, you will come into contact with allyl -isothiocyanate in mustard, piperine in pepper or capsaicin of chili. These substances bind to the Trpa1 or TRPV1 receptor in the mucosal layer, creating an electrical impulse that stimulates the brain to help the body feel the spicy taste.

The brain receives and sees the above stimuli as dangerous signals should activate a series of nerve reactions to protect the mucosa in contact with “strange substances”. Specifically, triggering the nervous nerves of the nose, releasing acetylcholine acting on the nasal tube increases the secretion of the nose mucus. Other intermediate nerves have the effect of relaxing blood vessels in the nasal cavity, resulting in an increase in blood supply, increasing the permeability of the vascular wall to release the fluid. At this time, the runny nose is responsible for soothing the mucosa and dilute the concentration of the spicy substances.

You should not worry when you have runny nose due to spicy food. Because this is a common reaction, normal reflexes of the body, not pathological. In case of nasal running when eating spicy should be visited if accompanied by symptoms such as prolonged nasal congestion, itching, urticaria, erythema, skin edema, shortness of breath, vomiting, severe headache ….

Spicy food can bring some benefits such as bad cholesterol, temporary nasal pine, and antioxidants. But abuse can increase symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux, esophagus, gastric ulcer, burning when defecating … Some people think that spicy eating helps clean the sinus by causing runny nose or sneezing. However, this effect usually lasts in a short time and does not solve the basic cause of sinus congestion.

Each person has a different threshold for spicy, if there is a negative or uncomfortable reaction, you should reduce or stop eating spicy