The Psychology of Why We’re Drawn to Spicy Food and Other Dalliances With Pain

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The Psychology of Why We’re Drawn to Spicy Food and Other Dalliances With Pain
Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce FestivalCapsaicinHot Sauce
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The spice must flow

It’s 100° outside. The sun is baking the back of your neck ... it’s going to hurt later. You’re standing in line with your friends, you’re sweating, you’re hungry, you’ve finished your drink. Finally, it’s your turn. The person across the table hands you a tortilla chip or a plastic spoon laden with a chunky or smooth or silky or oily concoction. Maybe it’s bright red or nuclear green or yellow or concerningly black. You take a bite and boom! Your palate explodes with pain.

“Endorphin is a portmanteau of endogenous morphine, so it’s like your own home-brew feel-good system,” says Leigh Cowart, author of. “The fact that your body has a reward system ready to go once you’re suffering can lead to humans making some pretty interesting decisions about what is fun for them.” Going ham on some hot sauce, then, is a way to safely push boundaries and challenge ourselves, engendering a sense of accomplishment, as well as earning bragging rights and high fives for our ability to handle the heat. And the communal aspect of enduring a palate-searing salsa can bring people closer together.

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