Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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HEALTH

The Claim

Eating spicy food can cause stomach ulcers.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

This claim is false. Modern medical evidence overwhelmingly shows that stomach ulcers are caused by H. pylori bacterial infection and NSAID use — not by spicy food. Major institutions including the NIDDK, Cleveland Clinic, and Yale Medicine explicitly reject the spicy-food-causes-ulcers myth. Peer-reviewed research actually shows capsaicin (the active compound in spicy food) may be gastroprotective. While spicy food can worsen symptoms in someone who already has an ulcer, it does not cause ulcers.

Caveats

  • Spicy food can aggravate symptoms (pain, discomfort) in people who already have ulcers, but symptom irritation is not the same as causing the ulcer.
  • The popular belief that spicy food causes ulcers is a persistent myth; stomach ulcers are caused by H. pylori infection and/or NSAID use in the vast majority of cases.
  • Peer-reviewed studies indicate capsaicin may actually inhibit acid secretion and stimulate protective mucus production, contradicting the claim's implied mechanism.

The Receipts

  1. Symptoms & Causes of Peptic Ulcers (Stomach or Duodenal Ulcers) - NIDDK

    NIDDK

  2. Gastroprotection induced by capsaicin in healthy human subjects

    PMC - NIH

  3. Capsaicin and gastric ulcers - PubMed

    PubMed

  4. Spicy Food Doesn't Cause Ulcers – Here's What Really Does | University Hospitals

    University Hospitals

  5. Can Spicy Food Cause Ulcers? The Surprising Myth - Liv Hospital

    Liv Hospital

  6. Symptoms & Treatments for Peptic Ulcer Disease - Cleveland Clinic

    Cleveland Clinic

  7. 8 Things to Know About Peptic Ulcers | News - Yale Medicine

    Yale Medicine

  8. Stomach Ulcer: Causes, Symptoms, and Diagnosis - Healthline

    Healthline

  9. Stomach Ulcer: Signs, Symptoms, Causes & Treatment - Cleveland Clinic

    Cleveland Clinic

  10. Understanding Etiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Treatment of Peptic Ulcers

    International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Applications

+ 7 more sources — see the full list on Lenz