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The only thing I've found regarding hot peppers while pregnant says that it can possibly induce labor.

My mom just told my pregnant wife that eating hot pepper can damage the fetus' skin:

  • the skin will be prone to rashes/buttons/blisters/etc.
  • the skin will become darker

She said it's because of the heat caused by the pepper. Is this based in reality, or is it just a housewives' tale?

rishimaharaj
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    sound like a housewives tale the hotness of peppers comes from [Capsaicin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin) which I don't think will ever get into the the Amniotic Fluid – ratchet freak May 27 '12 at 01:10
  • Maybe you could ask the women in countries like Korea, India, Burma, etc. They would have noticed if it caused any real problems. And there are lots of people with dark skin whose mother has never tasted any chillies. – hdhondt May 27 '12 at 23:26
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    We want to focus our attention on doubtful claims that are widely held or are made by notable people. Please [provide some references](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/882/what-are-the-attributes-of-a-good-question/883#883) to show this isn't just something your mother made up. – Oddthinking Jun 21 '13 at 02:12
  • I had a quick look for the literature, and was buried under the results: capsaicin has had a lot of study as patches, injections and feeding for human diseases and in pregnant rats. As a neutotoxin, it certainly has [some](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00502458) [effects](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0736574894900094) [on rats](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938496800163) in high doses, but I didn't see anything specific to skin flushes or humans. Not worth looking further until it is shown to be a notable claim. – Oddthinking Jun 22 '13 at 13:18
  • We've had a couple of deleted answers which basically were anecdotes about believing this claim. Useless as answers, but demonstrate notability. – Oddthinking Dec 18 '14 at 02:26
  • @LangLangC: Good point. The question asks about "hot pepper" which I interpret as [Capsicum annuum](http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:316944-2), but the notability link (which doesn't actually make the claim, as far as I can see) refers to black & white papper, i.e. [piper nigrum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper). Which is the common claim? I don't know. – Oddthinking Feb 02 '18 at 14:54

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