A man weighing 101kg ended up with more than a dozen stomach and duodenal ulcers after going on a "chili pepper diet," his doctor said. He had seen on the Internet that eating large amounts of hot peppers aided weight loss.
"He ate large amounts of chili paste mixed with rice three times a day, every day," said Hsiao Tun-jen (
The extent of the patient's condition was unusual, Hsiao said.
"I am used to finding one or two ulcers on a typical patient, but his duodenum was covered with at least a dozen ulcers," he said.
After taking appropriate medication and staying away from spicy food, the man has now recovered, Hsiao said.
However, he failed to lose any weight on the chili pepper diet.
Advocates for the chili pepper diet claim that capsaicin, the active ingredient that makes pepper hot, also raises the body's metabolism, thus burning calories.
But Hsiao questioned the gastrointestinal consequences of consuming enough chili peppers to achieve the desired effect.
"Some studies seems to indicate capsaicin does have an effect on metabolism," he said. "But the amount of peppers ingested would have to be massive. The stomach and intestines would not be able to handle it."
Even casual consumption of hot peppers could lead to potential harm, he added, citing another patient who came in after he had accompanied his girlfriend to a restaurant that served ma la huo guo (
That night, the man suffered violent bouts of diarrhea and a subsequent endoscopy showed that his stomach lining had sustained visible damage.
Like many other fads, the chili pepper diet first came to Taiwan from Japan, where pop singer Utada Hikari started the sensation.
"Just do a Web search for `chili pepper' and `weight-loss'," Hsiao said. "The Internet, women's magazines and advertisers all help to start and perpetuate many other dubious `miracle food' myths."
"Exaggerated claims have been made about everything from apples to seaweed jello," he said.
Hsiao said that another case of weigh-loss gone wrong occurred when a 20-year-old woman drank undiluted lemon juice with every meal, which she hoped would help her burn fat and lighten her skin.
"She ended up with severe stomach cramps instead," Hsiao said.
As for yogurt, an item frequently advertised as having a slimming effect, Hsaio said: "It's good for your gastrointestinal health. But sweetened yogurt drinks are usually packed with calories.
"No one miracle item is going to make you slim," he said. "Only lifestyle changes can do that in the long run."
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS