I love spicy foods. Even food that isn’t supposed to be spicy benefits from a little heat. Tuna salad is good. Tuna salad with jalapeños is better. Butter penne is good. Butter penne with chile flakes is better. However, I know that many people don't share my enjoyment of spice. This made me wonder, why can some people handle more spiciness than others? And why do some people enjoy that spice?
For the most part, food preferences are strongly influenced by your childhood. I grew up eating meals with spice in them. One of my favorites was what my mom simply called “Chopped Up Meat”. It is closest to a Mexican dish called Carne Guisada, which is basically a beef stew with tomato broth and flavored with cumin, garlic, and peppers. Sometimes it would be spicy and sometimes it would be mild. It all depended on the types of peppers and how ripe they were. This all comes to the conclusion that because of these spicy foods in my childhood, I can now tolerate more spiciness and, in fact, crave it more. Research has shown that anyone can actually increase their tolerance of spicy foods simply by eating it more consistently. If you encounter a dish that is too hot for you, drink full fat milk, have sour cream with the food, or devour some ice cream; the chemical responsible for spiciness is fat soluble and can be defeated with full fat dairy.
This all explained how I craved spicier foods, but I still didn’t understand why I enjoyed them. Was it all because of familiarity and nostalgia? It turns out that there is slightly more to it than that. Capsaicin is the chemical that creates the feeling of heat and pain when you eat spicy foods. Though your mouth may feel like it is on fire, it is actually all a trick. The Hot Cheetos are not actually burning your taste buds. Capsaicin is a defense mechanism built into peppers that is meant to deter mammals from eating them. The digestive system in mammals can break down pepper seeds, which prevents them from spreading and continuing in grow. Birds, on the other hand, are not affected by the chemical and also, conveniently, do not break down the seeds. This allows them to spread the seeds after eating the peppers. So, basically, humans are not meant to eat peppers, but we do anyways. Typical human nature.
There is a psychological aspect to this craving as well. When your brain perceives pain from the capsaicin, it attempts to releases enough endorphins to make you feel good. When you are eating something that is within your spice-tolerance, this is similar to an adrenaline rush. Its a kind of risk-reward situation. This explains the crazy obsession that leads to pepper-heads attempting to eat the next hottest peppers of the world.
And so, after all this explanation, I can now confidently say that I enjoy spicy food because I’ve always eaten it and it makes me happy. Now excuse me while I drown my eggs and potatoes in hot sauce.