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Why do some humans love chili peppers?

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Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#81
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What trouble?

diarrhea and irritation of anus/emorrhoids

I've never encountered this problem in real life, only on online forums, so I don't have any firsthand experience.

Maybe if you just eat spicy food every day you'll eventually get used to it and not have that problem? I've eaten (what some may describe as) spicy food for probably more than 90% of the meals in my life and it doesn't bother me.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pick a chilli from a plant and eat it like how an animal would do in the wild. you'll want to jump into a pond after that. The chilli plant evolved in such a way that humans don't like chilli pepper. Humans used cooking and drying and diluting and other modern methods to reduce the ill-effects of spices and enjoy its flavors in small quantities.

There's a huge range of "chili peppers", and the cultures where these are popular all refer to them by their individual names. see https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types/ It's not just varying levels of hot-ness that distinguishes them but a wide variety of flavor profiles and preparation techniques that enhance those flavors. Some peppers can absolutely be eaten raw and with seeds, others do well with…

>The seeds of Capsicum plants are dispersed predominantly by birds. In birds, the TRPV1 channel does not respond to capsaicin or related chemicals (avian vs. mammalian TRPV1 show functional diversity and selective sensitivity). This is advantageous to the plant, as chili pepper seeds consumed by birds pass through the digestive tract and can germinate later, whereas mammals have molar teeth which destroy such seeds and prevent them from germinating. Thus, natural selection may have led to increasing capsaicin production because it makes the plant less likely to be eaten by animals that do not help it disperse.[6]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#84

These two papers give a much better answer than this blog: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138904172... (why do humans increase their chili consumption) and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042654/ (antibacterial + disease-alleviating properties of capsaicin). Besides the fact that capsaicin has antibacterial effects and exerts indirect disease-alleviating effects during bacterial infe…

> eating chili triggers an endorphin high, but regularly eating chili makes you less sensitive and hence you have to eat more chili to get your little high

I wonder what is the evolutionary reason for that. The older you are, the more defense you needed against bacteria?

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#85
post #2

shouldn't it be most humans? China and India and most of asia have chilli peppers and so does africa. It is the minority that cannot tolerate chillies. prior to chillies, black pepper, ginger and garlic was used and if used in appropriate quantities gives you a similar result. chillies are just a lot more economical to grow.

What's interesting is that even among cultures that eat very spicy food, some absolutely cannot tolerate it. I have a friend from Chengdu and some friends in Malaysia who cannot eat anything spicy. It makes it hard for them to eat food outside and they've had to learn by trial and error the restaurants that can actually limit the amount of spiciness.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#86

These two papers give a much better answer than this blog: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138904172... (why do humans increase their chili consumption) and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042654/ (antibacterial + disease-alleviating properties of capsaicin). Besides the fact that capsaicin has antibacterial effects and exerts indirect disease-alleviating effects during bacterial infe…

> eating chili triggers an endorphin high, but regularly eating chili makes you less sensitive and hence you have to eat more chili to get your little high I wonder what is the evolutionary reason for that. The older you are, the more defense you needed against bacteria?

I always thought that the endorphin high is unrelated to the beneficial effect: any strong pain is normally followed by a release of endorphins to compensate. It's why pain and pleasure are often difficult to disentangle. A strong dose of capsaicin will induce a painful sensation in the mouth (you'll feel like burning), which is compensated by a release of endorphins.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#87
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I occasionally have them raw in salads, though more often pickled (still technically raw I suppose). Chopped up and cooked in something too of course. I don't think that's unusual of me.

But would you eat chilli peppers like how you'd eat other fruits and veggies? Say tomatoes or beets. No. ofcourse not.

I don't know what you mean. Raw chillis are commonly served in this area (Eastern Europe) together with soups, just like raw onions, for example.

However, I've never seen anyone eat a raw beetroot. And of course, people don't put tomatoes in fruit salads, as the old saying goes - different fruit are eaten in different ways.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#89
post #77

Well, at least for me, it is simple: a controlled pain sensation, in low quantities, giving a sense of excitement (even thinking about it gives me a tingling sensation and makes my mouth full of saliva), in higher - followed by a flood of endorphins. It is essentially getting high on locally-produced painkillers. From anecdata, chili-loving is strongly correlated with sensation seeking, or rather: the balance between…

This. A former co-worker loved chili. He also loved psychedelic mushrooms and other drugs, and he pondered if there was some kind of connection there, that perhaps it was the case that chili gave him a way to experience a similar kind of thrill in a safer, more controlled way.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#90

These two papers give a much better answer than this blog: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138904172... (why do humans increase their chili consumption) and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042654/ (antibacterial + disease-alleviating properties of capsaicin). Besides the fact that capsaicin has antibacterial effects and exerts indirect disease-alleviating effects during bacterial infe…

> eating chili triggers an endorphin high, but regularly eating chili makes you less sensitive and hence you have to eat more chili to get your little high I wonder what is the evolutionary reason for that. The older you are, the more defense you needed against bacteria?

Taste sensitivity declines with age. Strong flavours like smelly cheese are disgusting for kids but enjoyed by older adults.
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