Certain foods can cause you to sweat almost immediately after consumption. Different foods make this happen for different reasons. Some foods do it by temporarily increasing your metabolic rate, causing you to burn more calories. Other foods simply make you feel hot. It is important to note, however, that sweating alone will only make you lose water weight, so eating a lot of foods that make you sweat is no guarantee you will lose fat.
Spicy Peppers
Spicy peppers burn your mouth when you eat them because they contain the chemical capsaicin. While capsaicin only tricks your nerves into thinking you're being burned, it actually does raise your body temperature. A study published in "The Journal of Biological Chemistry" concluded that capsaicin rhas the ability to increase your metabolic rate and body temperature for a short period of time, causing you to sweat. Likewise, any foods containing spicy peppers or pepper-based hot sauce, like spicy chicken wings, will also cause you to sweat.
Caffeinated Beverages
Caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, teas and energy drinks can cause you to sweat if you do not have a high tolerance for caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant that causes your heart to beat faster and raises your metabolic rate. When your metabolic rate increases, your body burns more calories, which in turn raises your temperature and makes you sweat. Hot coffee and tea can make you sweat even more simply because the temperature of the beverage is hot.
Hot Soups
Hot soups can make you sweat a little bit. Just like hot coffer or tea, the hot liquid of the soup will slightly raise your temperature, as will the steam that's coming off the bowl. If the soup is particularly spicy, it will make you sweat even more.
Alcohol
When your body naturally gets hotter because you're in a hot environment, like sitting on the beach on a hot summer day, your blood vessels dilate so that more blood can pass through them close to your skin's surface, helping to dissipate heat. Eventually, you also begin to sweat so that your body can cool off via evaporation. Alcohol has a similar effect on your body. When you drink a glass of alcohol, your blood vessels widen. Although this will cause your body to lose heat in the long run, initially it may cause you to sweat.
References
- MedIndia; Capsaicin in Chili Peppers Increases Metabolism, Body Temperature Read more: Capsaicin in Chilli Peppers Increases Metabolism, Body Temperature; Thilaka Ravi; August 2008
- Center for Alcohol Studies and Education: Alcohol and the Body
- National Weather Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross: Summer Heat: The Silent Killer
- "Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition"; Thermogenic Effect from Nutritionally Enriched Coffee Consumption; Jay R Hoffman, et al.; June 2006
