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Why do some humans love chili peppers?

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Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#141

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…

Living in Japan, it’s very hard to find properly spicy food or nice chilli sauces. I’ve resorted to just eating plain cut chilli. A while back, I experimented with not adding more spices than was already provided in my meals. No pepper, no chilli. After about a month, I started experiencing new tastes and flavours from foods I’ve always ate. It was amazing. But I craved that endorphin high from spicy foods and have f…

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Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#142
post #134

I've been growing chilis for 3 years and it's slowly become my hobby that gives me the most satisfaction. Most varieties (Especially Capsicum Chinense, the species that most superhots come from) calibrate very well to small spaces/resources. It's an incredibly satisfying hobby that gives an opportunity to get very technical with something without involving backlit screens, a wonderful social lubricant.

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Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#143
post #129

I mean, I get it, like I can't imagine being new to the scene and starting with "Unlimited Love" or something as your first listen, but of course - if you were there for the "Mothers Milk" era, it's obvious why you'd like the peppers.

Haa, before I clicked I was thinking of saying something similar. New single is hot.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#144

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…

Living in Japan, it’s very hard to find properly spicy food or nice chilli sauces. I’ve resorted to just eating plain cut chilli. A while back, I experimented with not adding more spices than was already provided in my meals. No pepper, no chilli. After about a month, I started experiencing new tastes and flavours from foods I’ve always ate. It was amazing. But I craved that endorphin high from spicy foods and have f…

One of the hottest things I've ever eaten was at a Korean-run Japanese curry house in NYC.

IIRC you chose spiciness on a 1-5 scale. The first time I tried a 2 and it was damn spicy. Next time I tried a 3 and it ruined my lunch, my pride, my afternoon, and my evening.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#145

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…

I’ve gotten to a point where I prefer to drink a hot spicy soup in a cup over many things. If I drink coffee, it also always burning hot with a solid mix of cream, sugar and cinnamon. One of the things it helps me achieve is a small warmth that also helps me sleep. I don’t even resort to hot sauce for the broths anymore, just cutting up one or two small chili peppers makes the soup hotter. The soups are becoming a re…

All my snacks now are some sort of crispy vegetable with very hot chili powder, a little bit of salt and lemon juice.

Chop up some cucumbers/radish/Lima beans/tomatoes/carrots/chickpeas etc. add a chili powder, lemon and salt and I’m good to go. Ready in seconds and way better than eating potato chips and gives me a little bit of an endorphin rush.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Raw beetroot is actually a great salad vegetable. We have it grated sometimes. Some can be a little earthy and have a bit of heat like radish or ginger.

Had raw grated beetroot in my salad today for lunch, and very tasty it was too. I pulled it out of the ground five weeks ago, weighed 1.4kg - it's the purple-and-white stripey version, makes the salad quite colourful. Been cutting bits off it to grate every time I have a salad. For some reason, beetroot seems to keep extremely well in the fridge.

Best to do when fresh. Most when store bought are a few months old they are a lot tougher and harder to digest.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#147
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.

Can't tolerate? The world champions in chili eating contests are caucasian.

That might be because the competition is held in the US? I don’t know.

Re: Why do some humans love chili peppers?

#149
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.

Yes I do, and most Koreans do too.

We dip raw peppers into a hot pepper sauce. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-bwUP77ElM

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