When rosacea patients think of triggers from foods or spices, they likely think of hot peppers as common rosacea irritants. However, there are other possibilities. A 2008 medical journal report, for example, noted the anecdotal case of a patient with subtype 2 rosacea who experienced a sudden spread of her symptoms after using 500-mg cinnamon supplements to help control blood sugar levels.

While the hot, spicy flavors of many cuisines offer a virtual explosion of taste, for many with rosacea such foods may result in an explosion of signs and symptoms as well. Here are some tips to keep a little sizzle in your meal without triggering a flare-up.

• Pass on hot peppers. In surveys, cayenne and red pepper were cited as rosacea triggers by more than a third of rosacea patients, while black pepper affected 18 percent and white pepper affected 9 percent.

In a report of one patient, cinnamon was potentially linked to an increase in severity of the patient's rosacea, according to a report in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.¹

Researchers Dr. Tracy Campbell and colleagues at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago reported that a woman with diabetes and mild papulopustular rosacea on the nose experienced a sudden spread of symptoms from her eyelids to her chin after using 500-mg cinnamon supplements to help control blood sugar levels.

If your rosacea is affected by certain spicy foods, they may have no place in your picnic basket this summer. It's not just the popular south-of-the-border cuisines that can lead to the red rash of rosacea in many individuals, but many other ingredients as well, according to a new survey of more than 500 rosacea patients by the National Rosacea Society.

For many people with rosacea, bold spicy flavors can turn a culinary adventure into a craving gone bad. If spicy foods are one of your rosacea tripwires, here are some tips for avoiding flare-ups while keeping a little sizzle in your meal.