Those of you that know me know that in the last year and a half, I’ve become extremely health and fitness minded – I lost 100 pounds, started exercising, and have basically re-tooled my life. I look better, feel better, have a better attitude, and have more confidence. How cool is that?! And having the obsessively addictive personality that I have, I channel a ton of energy into whatever and wherever I’m focusing my attention. So it stands to reason that I would work to combine my life of all things hot, fiery, and spicy into my new healthy, fitness focused lifestyle.

Now Don’t get me wrong, ladies and gentlemen – I LOVE to eat! I LOVE food! You don’t live in South Louisiana as long as I have (most of my adult life, which is quite a while, at this point!) without developing a love affair with full-flavored, richly spiced cuisine. So when I went on “the diet” as I call it now, it derailed my standard approach to reviewing hot sauce and fiery food. I honestly started wondering if the two could co-exist. What an idget! Not only did I discover that they co-exist, they are almost joined at the hip, two peas in a pod, PB & J, Ricky and Lucy, Watson and Crick…..okay, I know…….you get it!

Diet proponents have long espoused that food should be about flavor, not calories and fat. And that by flavoring what we eat with the spices (and heat) we enjoy serves to enhance our tastes, our experience, and our overall enjoyment of the culinary experience. And to top all that off, research shows us that eating a diet rich in spice and heat boost our metabolism, and some studies have even linked a diet full of sweat-inducing, nose running, hot peppers (pick a pepper, any pepper jalapeño hot or hotter) with improved gastrointestinal health!!! Plus, those wonderful, hot little buggars are chock a block full of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. I didn’t put any formal links to studies, cause this is more of an op ed piece, and Google is your friend, so my musings are easy to research and validate.

So don’t be shy! Spice it up! Whip out that Captain Thom’s Thai Monkey on your stir fry, CaJohn’s Oaxacan on that veggie omelet, High River Sauces Grapes of Wrath on your salad, Jac’s Tailgaters Raspberry and Chipotle on your ‘nilla ice cream, Volcanic Peppers Hot Onion & Garlic Powder on….anything! And pick from among a virtual cornucopia of hot sauces, powders, and spices for that next whole wheat thin crust pizza with veggies and Canadian bacon (I may be cravin’ that one just a little….ya think?!) Your culinary well being will thank you…your metabolism will thank you….and your overall health and fitness will thank you! And why is that, you ask? Because, Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s a Fiery World!