Hot food contains more heat therefore more energy. Does this mean that it will give more energy to whoever eats it or just make them temporarily hotter by heating them on the inside?

As a lover of spicy food when I do the cooking it often involves some measure of chilli, and when I order a pizza, I prefer to get double jalapeno peppers on it.

I have been told that young people can take spicy foods better than older people, one person stated that spicy food can damage the internal organs of old people or at the very least disturb the digestive process.

My response to this was that India has old people, yet they manage just fine.

Can chilli peppers do this and do young people have some form of protection or resilience to it?

Although this question is about the effect of chilli on a healthy digestive system, is there medical conditions in which the above could be true?

Last night I went out for a meal in a nice restaurant with my boyfriend. After a three course meal with two units of alcohol we drove home. We both felt very cold, despite being well wrapped up in a relatively warm car. On closer introspection, I realised that all my muscles were extremely tense, and I wasn't actually all that cold. I was completely unable to relax physically, even though I was totally at ease emotionally. My boyfriend reported the same sensation. I recall feeling the same way on many occasions after leaving restaurants.

Can anybody offer an explanation or indeed a remedy?