Jamie, I'm not medically trained, but would be glad to tell you what I've
read, seen and otherwise experienced. Many years ago a British doctor
"piped" some oil of capsacin into the stomach of 12 patients. Shortly
thereafter he examined their stomachs with a scope. He found absolutely no
sign of tissue inflamation in any of the patients. I have repeatedly cored
hundreds of jalapeno peppers with or without gloves and have had my hands
burn for hours afterward. Even then I noticed I had no signs of redness or
inflamation, only pain. Just before writing this I took a PH
reading(acid/alkali level) of a raw jalapeno pepper and it came out 5-an
almost insignificant acid content. So believe they don't greatly adversely
affect tissue. If you have an ulcer, expect it to raise h--- h--- in your
stomach due to ready access to some pain nerves. About causing ulcers or
cancer-not too many facts to support. I saw your question asked somewhere
before and the answer was-Latin Americans who are heavy on chiles don't have
a higher rate of either ulcers or cancer. Hope this helps some.
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