Were you able to leave this 'burning' lifestyle after migrating to West ?

I am a pharmacist, so I have studied all these spices as medicines

For example

1) Ginger- contains borneol, zingeberene, linalool
It Is used as
expectorant- removes cough from the respiratory tract
carminative- expels gas from the stomach
stomachic- aids digestion

2) Chilli- contains capsaicin, which increases heat mildy in the stomach and aids digestion. It is also a constituent on 'moov'.

3) Clove- contains eugenol. This acts as stomachic, carminative, antiseptic and it also used to prevent dental decay.

Other than all these, cardamom, fennel, cumin, dill also have the same properties.
The volatile oil content in it gives it a slight astringent taste, and an aroma, which makes food tasty and palatable.
The normal volatile oil content in it will in no way cause irritation of your mucosal membranes.
Dharmesh if you feel a 'burning ' sensation in your stomach after eating these then definately you need to check with a doctor, as your stomach lining might have got corroded or inflammed and hence this might be worsening it.

This was just from my pharmacy knowledge......................but generally speaking, it is believed by nutritionists that these spices enhance the digestion and assimilation of food, if you have just raw or boiled vegs you will end up with bloating and constipation, as the spices are not there to aid the digestion of food.
Even oil should be added in the seasoning, as the fat soluble vitamins like A,D, E and K will not be absorbed in absence of oil. As you know the cell membrane is composed of a lipid bilayer, and hence oil enhances the absoption of nutrients.

As we are basically from India, our genes are used to seasoned food, we cannot digest and assimilate bland, boiled food like the Americans, and hence we should not even try to do so.

Excess of oil and spices will obviously have a detrimental effect on your health.

 

The Spices make INDIAN Food 'INDIAN'

 

I could never tolerate spicy food. I ate my rotis with butter if mom added even garam masala to the curry. So, we ate "pheeka" food at home and whoever wanted something spicy- either added chilli powder or had pickle. Not just me, several members in my family just don't enjoy spicy food. My BIL doesn't eat spicy food at all so my sister makes food without chillis and I've learned so many delicious recipes from her. Just made malai kofta this weekend following her recipe and oh yes, i'm in love with that recipe. I love the real taste and texture of the food, not the burning sensation.
After moving to US it was much easier for me to try and enjoy different cuisine. We rarely make Indian food at home and when I do it is as pheeka as pheeka can be and still tastes great. Chilli powder doesn't make it delicious.

 

I havent read all the responses but I am fairly sure the answer you will get is no. The reason for this is that the use of these specific spices is also highly addictive. So once you go the spicy route you can never go back. Food appears dead, dull tasteless bland, no matter how much you tell yourself that this or that is good for you. one of my american profs, born and raised in corn country didnt know the abc of spice, went to london in his 20s and got introduced to indian food. now he cant go back to his former way of eating.
'ye worald hai na worald is mein do tarake log hote hai, ek jo spice khaa sakte aur doosre jo nahi'

as far as your doc is concerned it sounds like what is he talking to you about is gastric reflex which causes stomach contents to go up the tube and eat away the lining causing acidity problems. that is what a mucosal irritant would do. spices may or may not be mucosal irriatants--it depends on which spice and the quantity you are ingesting at a time and overall structure of the meal. For eg., south indian end every meal with curd rice and rarely have acidity.

 

Dear Dharmesh,

If you are consulting a gastroenterologist, then you must be suffering from some specific gastric problem, if he has asked you to refrain from spices for the time being, then maybe you should do that.

But you should certainly not develop a negative attitude towards it, maybe use in small quantities or refrain till you recover, but I don't think you should give it up for life.

Asking an Indian to eat blad food for 'health' reasons is as good as asking an American to eat spicy food dripping with oil. Like I told you before, we lack the enzymatic machinery to digest raw, bland food, and hence trying to do so will only worsen your health.

If the doctor you are consulting is an American, then he might have told you this thinking you overuse it, they believe Indians suffer from health conditions only due to their eating habits.

Moreover doctors don't know much about medicines and nutrition, for that you should always consult your pharmacist and dietitian respectively.

Chillies are an important source of vitamins too.

I am sending you a link of the pharmacognosy of all spices, since you asked me, maybe it will help.

Pharmacognosy - Mr. S. B. Gokhale - Google Books

I am also sending you a link of the video by dietitian Rujuta Diwekar on the 'importance of tadka.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FndC-E-byoQ