Sriracha is the obvious choice if you need a little bit to spice up, well, pretty much anything. Sriracha can transform every dish—from eggs to dips to meat to toast to vegetables to salads and even ice cream (yes, this exists)—from bland to zesty and savoury. While you're busy pampering your taste senses by slathering the crimson condiment on your avocado toast and egg salads, sriracha may be having unexpected effects on your health. Sriracha's thickness and sweet, garlicky flavour set it distinct from other spicy sauces. Only chilli peppers, sugar, garlic, vinegar, and salt are listed as ingredients (as well as preservatives and thickeners in some brands). And there isn't much there in terms of nutrition. Sriracha has 138 milligrams of salt, 1.2 gram of carbs, and 6 calories per teaspoon.
But, if sriracha is your main flavor enhancer or if you're planning to eat a dish that has a lot of the red stuff in it, here are some side effects of eating sriracha.
#1. Sriracha as a condiment on your food may speed up your metabolism. Chili peppers, which contain the capsaicin found in them, are one of the key components of sriracha sauce. In addition to giving the sauce its hot flavour, capsaicin works as a thermogenic agent, creating heat that may perhaps speed up metabolism and aid in fat burning. One short study revealed that people who consumed capsaicin with every meal were less prone to overeat and experienced better feelings of satiety and fullness than those who did not.
#2. As a preservative, sodium bisulfite is used in some sriracha brands. Those who are sensitive to sulfites may experience an adverse reaction from sriracha, including stomach discomfort, hives, and asthma. According to the Cleveland Clinic, patients with asthma are more likely to suffer sulfite allergies. If you have asthma, your odds of developing a sulfite allergy range from one in forty to one in one hundred. Avoiding foods high in sulfites, such as some types of wine, shrimp, potatoes, and sauces, is essential if you are aware of your sulfite sensitivity.
#3. You're not alone if spicy meals tend to make you feel sick. The capsaicin that gives sriracha its flavour can irritate your stomach and cause you to have looser bowel movements. A protein known as the vanilloid receptor1 is triggered when you consume meals containing capsaicin, alerting your brain to the burning sensation inside of you. Your body creates endorphins to prevent pain and transports capsaicin through the digestive track so quickly to protect your internal organs that, for some people, the colon doesn't have time to absorb water as it normally would. You might even notice that your poop is spicy. Because the anus has more pain receptors than other parts of the body, capsaicin may burn as it leaves the body.
#4. Sriracha use may exacerbate your acid reflux symptoms if you have them already. Red chilli peppers contain a compound called capsaicin that, according to studies, makes food stay in your stomach for longer, increasing the likelihood of acid reflux and irritating the oesophagus. This may exacerbate the agony of your heartburn. The garlic in sriracha can exacerbate heartburn symptoms if capsaicin isn't enough to relieve them. The esophageal sphincter, a little flap, is located between your stomach and oesophagus. To prevent stomach acid from penetrating your oesophagus, maintain this flap tight. After eating garlic, there is a higher likelihood of experiencing heartburn since garlic has the capacity to weaken the strain on this sphincter.
