At her birthday party that night, she enjoyed a wonderful spicy hotpot in a Sichuan restaurant with friends.

The delicious food went down well and the heated environment made her excited. But, from that night on, she has been suffering from severe constipation.

Monica is not the only hotpot victim in Shanghai in recent weeks as locals pour into hotpot restaurants to brace themselves against the chilly weather.

Hospitals are treating an increasing number of patients, suffering from "hotpot syndrome". Their discomfort includes damage to the lining of the mouth, constipation, allergies and even bleeding in the digestive system.

Seafood

Shrimps, crabs and other sea food are good ingredients for hotpot cooking. However, people with some allergic conditions are at risk of of falling ill after eating them. The most common symptom is a violent itching all over the body.

Food poisoning is also a risk if the seafood is not cooked properly in the hotpot or if it is going bad.

Doctors say sea food should be cooked for at least five minutes in the hotpot at more than 100 degrees centigrade to completely kill all the bacteria and parasites.

Diners should also keep a close check on the freshness of sea food and other meats because any food that is "off" is dangerous and can lead to diarrhoea, vomiting and other digestive disorders.

Spicy food and inner heat

Spicy ingredients such as the various peppers that are a speciality of Sichuan hotpot can stimulate one's appetite but they can also cause extra inner heat in the body and destroy the balance of its proper inner condition, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The heat will cause a syndrome including dryness and inflammation in the throat, nose bleeding, constipation and gingivitis.

Doctors suggest diners should exercise some control when eating spicy foods to avoid the extra inner heat. In any case, mutton and beef also produce a lot of inner heat and should not be overeaten.

Since the hotpot needs a lot of oxygen while burning, it's very important to let the air flow freely. The waste poisonous gases include CO and CO2 and when they gather in a room, they are a threat to health.

Eating hotpot in a closed area may cause dizziness, a drumming in the ears and fatigue due to lack of oxygen and the effect of poisonous gases.

Food taken from the boiling hotpot is very hot and some people can hurt themselves by being impatient to eat.

(Shanghai Star January 10, 2003)