Looking at the ingredients and their medicinal action, it is easy to see a pattern emerging. These spicy foods have evolved over the ages to relieve common health complaints of the people in the area where they are eaten. This evolution was not conscious, but rather society choosing over a number of years ingredients that make them feel better and rejecting ingredients that have less desirable effects.

                               Curry-like dishes contain elements that aid digestion and ease stomach problems - a common complaint in areas where sanitation issues cause disease. Some constituents of curry are antibiotic (also helpful in developing world countries as both a preservative and to kill harmful organisms), and spicy (hot foods tend to increase the body's thermostat, making you cooler). The same holds true for some Mexican, South American, and African foods that are very spicy and contain related ingredients with the same medicinal actions.