Ground Chilli

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

The most nutrient-dense thing in this batch, in the smallest serves.

Stage by stage

TRPV1 (Sensory nerves): Capsaicin binds the receptor that detects real heat, so the burn is reported as temperature.
Not an ulcer cause (Stomach): Chilli does not cause ulcers — H. pylori and anti-inflammatories do.
Carotenoids (Small intestine): 15,000 mcg of beta-carotene per 100 g, needing fat to be absorbed.
Desensitisation (Nerve endings): Repeated exposure exhausts the receptor — the basis of tolerance and of capsaicin creams.

Timing

It nearly always arrives cooked in oil, which is exactly what the beta-carotene needs. Tolerance builds over weeks and is genuine receptor desensitisation.

Time to effect

Seconds: The burn, as capsaicin binds TRPV1.
Weeks: Tolerance, through desensitisation of the same receptor.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Environmental footprint

0.5 kg CO2e and 108 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Other vegetables" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 293
Protein: 12.3g
Carbohydrate: 12.9g
of which sugars: 7.2g
Fat: 14.3g
of which saturated: 2.1g
Fibre: 34.2g
Sodium: 68mg

Food vs. supplement

Capsaicin is one of the few food compounds with a genuine pharmaceutical form: high-concentration topical patches are an established treatment for post-herpetic neuralgia. They work by overstimulating the nerve endings until they stop responding, which is tolerance used deliberately.

Kitchen tip

Milk or yoghurt for the burn, never water. Capsaicin is fat-soluble, so water spreads it around and dairy lifts it off.

Common myth

“Spicy food gives you ulcers.” In reality: It does not. Peptic ulcers are caused by Helicobacter pylori infection and by anti-inflammatory drugs, a finding that won a Nobel Prize and overturned exactly this belief. Chilli can aggravate symptoms if you already have reflux or an ulcer, which is how the association survives. It cannot create one.