By After actor Anne Hathaway, who’s expecting her third child, recently revealed that she skipped a “Hot Ones” interview for fear of inducing labor, many are wondering if there’s any truth to the concern.
The “Verity” star recently spoke to podcast “Talk of the Townsends” and shared that her doctor advised against going on the popular spicy chicken wing challenge show because she “might go into early labor.”
The comments echo a commonly circulated old wives’ tale — that having a couple piquant bites can kickstart the birthing process. But experts say that that’s not quite rooted in fact.
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“A lot of people coming to us … they all have this idea that one of the ways to start the induction process or to induce labor is to consume something hot, spicy,” says Francesco Callipari, medical director of the Carolyn Rowan Center for Women’s Health and Wellness at Mount Sinai in New York City. “There really is no evidence at all to support this.”
“Hot Ones” features a challenge component in which the celebrity guest eats chicken wings between questions. Each wing features an increasingly spicier hot sauce. Hathaway has a similar scene in her new film, and explained during the podcast that she had planned to appear on the interview show to promote the movie. But her pregnancy caused her to pivot.
Hathaway added during a Sept. 29 interview with E! News that “spicy foods impacted me in the past.”
“So it kind of seemed like the right thing to do,” Hathaway told the outlet. “Why take any unnecessary chances?”
Does Spicy Food Induce Labor?
Callipari said that there are no randomized control trials, observational studies or otherwise to support the idea that spicy foods can induce labor.
“Forget about causation,” he says. “There’s not even a correlation.”
But it’s not entirely surprising that people believe these issues are linked. Callipari explains that hot foods tend to cause hypermotility of the gut, meaning that intestinal contractions increase and move the food faster. So some people experience gastrointestinal distress, prompting them to deal with loose bowel movements, he says.
“Because the uterus is probably right next to the intestines and the colon and the abdomen, people think that this mechanistically may have an effect,” he says.
Dr. Meleen Chuang, chief of obstetrics at NYU Langone Health, similarly says that there’s no compelling evidence to suggest a link between spice and an induction in labor. If anything, spicy foods can just cause a bit more discomfort during pregnancy, she says.
“In the third trimester, spicy foods are more likely to cause heartburn or acid reflux, stomach discomfort, diarrhea, or intestinal cramping — especially if you’re not used to spicy foods — rather than actually starting labor,” Chuang says.
Do Spicy Foods Pose Any Risk To Pregnancy?
Both experts noted that there’s really no reason to avoid spicy foods during pregnancy. No evidence suggests that the heat is harmful. In fact, Callipari says, many spicy foods have health benefits. Capsaicin, the compound that gives hot peppers its heat, is a known bacteriostatic agent, meaning it inhibits the growth of bacteria.
“It helps to fight infection,” Callipari explains, adding that people in cultures around the world continue to eat spicy foods across the duration of pregnancy. “It stops bacteria from growing. So spice was added a lot to our foods when we didn’t have a fridge thousands of years ago, but culturally we discovered that spicy foods are healthier foods because they lasted.”
Chuang says that while pregnant people shouldn’t feel as though they need to stay away from those piquant bites, hot wings could irritate pre-existing hemorrhoids on top of any acid reflux or heartburn in the third trimester.
“One rule for people to remember is that with spicy foods, you may feel the burn going in but also sometimes, coming out!” she says.
Are There Any Particular Foods That Do, In Fact, Induce Labor?
Like spicy foods, there are many things from eggplant to licorice that have been said to induce labor — few of which have any convincing evidence behind them, Chaung says.
“Dates have some preliminary evidence but other popular choices like pineapple have not been shown to reliably start labor,” Chuang says.
Chuang adds that she often recommends a smoothie of pineapple, coconut water, dates and agave nectar to patients as a fun, nutrient rich snack — it’s just not going to kickstart the birthing process.
TLDR: It seems pretty safe to turn up the heat!
