Spice up your menu - take food risks

Go with caution. Bodies can have an adverse reaction to spicy food, one needs to be ready for that if one chooses such an adventure.

I think ethnic foods are all over the map in spiciness, and most restaurants are sensitive to what level of spiciness you may be used to. So you can select foods that have a level of spices that matches your comfort -- just ask. Heaven forbid we would avoid new food adventures for fear of an adverse reaction! Ok, you may either be delighted or decide a particular new dining experience is not for you -- but that is not an adverse reaction! If you are not used to foods with a lot of spices, go slowly, and ask. My vote is to dive in and find out what you like. If you never try other foods, you will not know what you are missing!

I grew up on a very plain Eastern European diet, so I am not use to spicy food. Recently I started eating Thai and really like it. I typically order veggie Pad Thai with only a little spice. At some restaurants, it's too spicy, and at others not spicy enough. Just learn what level of spiciness the restaurant uses. As Geoff suggested, start slow and increase the spiciness.

Hey Jen, I love your new picture on the site! (the hat, of course, is very cool too!) Would love to hear more about your activities and goals (and specifically with healthy eating).

Scientists have proven that capsaicin, which is responsible for the burning sensation when we eat chillies, can kill cancer cells, indicating that people could at least prevent the onset of cancer by eating a spicy diet. Dr Timothy Bates who made the discovery says that "This is incredibly exciting and may explain why people living in countries like Mexico and India, who traditionally eat a diet which is very spicy, tend to have lower incidences of many cancers that are prevalent in the western world.? According to Bates, capsaicin attacks the power house of the tumor, thus killing the cancerous tumor cells and reducing tumor growth, while not appearing to harm surrounding healthy cells.

I JUST saw a recipe on Jamie Oilver's new fresh veggie show. It sounds good. He takes a red pepper, scoops it out. Inside, he puts a variety of chopped up peppers: some fruity, some really hot. He adds a few olives and tops it with a slice of bacon. He puts it in a baking dish, covers with tinfoil and bakes for 15 minutes, thus steaming it, then bakes it uncovered for 15 minutes for a crust. The fats and cooking probably mellow out all the different colors and flavors of peppers.