The idea that certain foods are "heaty" and can throw your body out of balance is practically a cultural institution in Malaysia, passed down through generations with the authority of established fact.
Sore throats, mouth ulcers and sudden breakouts after a night of fried chicken and durian have convinced many Malaysians that heatiness is as real as the food that caused it.
But is there actually any science behind the belief that "heaty" foods can make you fall sick?
Verdict:
FALSE
Scientists do not recognise "heatiness" as a medical condition, and no peer-reviewed research has found evidence that foods carry inherent heating or cooling properties that can directly make you sick.
The "heaty"-cooling framework is rooted in centuries-old Asian dietary tradition, and a 2021 review in the journal Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology concluded that attempts to test these ideas scientifically have produced inconsistent and inconclusive results.
No study has shown that eating a plate of fried chicken wings sends heat energy through your body and out through a mouth ulcer.
That said, some of the foods commonly labelled as "heaty", including fried foods, spicy dishes, red meat, chocolate and durian, can affect the body in other ways, though not in everyone and not for the reasons tradition suggests.
The sore throat some people get after a big, spicy meal is a good example.
Research published in the European Archives of Otorhinolaryngology (ear, throat and nose medicine for laymen) found that regularly eating spicy, fried and acidic foods can trigger acid reflux in some people, where stomach acid creeps up into the throat and causes soreness, a scratchy feeling or a sensation of something being stuck there.
A separate study published in Frontiers in Medicine found that cutting back on fried, spicy and high-fat foods helped ease those symptoms in some patients.
So the observation that a heavy meal can lead to a sore throat is not wrong; it is just that acid, not heat energy, is the more likely culprit.
The link between greasy food and pimples is less clear-cut but not entirely without basis.
Researchers at A*STAR in Singapore found that mice fed a high-fat diet were more prone to clogged pores, suggesting that eating a lot of fatty food may contribute to breakouts in some people.
Whether the same holds true in humans needs more research, but it is at least plausible.
What the science does not back up is the idea that these foods carry some kind of built-in heating power that throws your body off balance.
A more likely explanation is that eating a lot of fried, spicy and fatty food on a regular basis over time can irritate the gut or cause low-level inflammation in some people, which produces symptoms that generations of Malaysians have understandably put down to "heatiness".
The instinct was not wrong, however the explanation just needs some updating.
Sources:
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.
2. https://www.frontiersin.
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
4. https://research.a-star.
