Capsaicin in Peppers Can Increase Metabolism and Body Temperatures
It turns out that there’s a reason you sweat when you eat a lot of red hot chilli peppers: that compound responsible for the fire in your mouth called capsaicin can directly induce thermogenesis.
And although the studies used relatively high amounts of capsaicin (probably more than even a Thai-food addict can tolerate) to demonstrate this, researchers are looking into the structure of capsaicin as a model to design more potent compounds that might have clinical use such as treating hypothermia.
I would say that this is a DUH factor. I use hot sauce every day and eat peppers most days. It starts a instant chemical reaction in your system. If it increases your heart rate to start you sweating it must be increasing blood flow to the rest of the body. This should also be looked at for heart attacks and strokes. Increasing blood flow to the brain with a simple pepper may save your life.