A couple years ago, we got a new Mexican restaurant in our small town.  It's 
run by real Mexicans and their food is really good and relatively cheap. 
It's my favorite place to eat for lunch now.  Yes, I'm also getting fatter 
again.

Anyway, I've never been a big fan of spicy hot foods.  It just doesn't do 
anything for me, except make my tongue hurt.  Others like it.  Fine.  So, 
I've tried to adapt.  After eating there for 2 years (perhaps once a week), 
the salsa still seems just as hot as it ever did.  I don't complain, but my 
tongue burns and burns for 15 minutes or so.  Ok, so I'm still not used to 
the hot foods, and it will take me a few more years to adapt, right?

Well, that's what I thought.  But no one else that I work with seems to have 
it affect them.  Half of them don't even think there are any peppers in the 
salsa.  No, they're not all male, trying to prove their masculinity.  In 
fact, even my daughter (10 years old) doesn't seem to think it's hot.  They 
gave her the mild salsa, and she preferred the hotter salsa.  Guess who 
ended up eating the mild stuff...

Ok, so I'm a wimp.  Fine.  I'm cool with that.  But I really have to believe 
that there must be something different about me.  My brother is very 
similar, and in many ways, he's more of a "tough-guy" than I am.  Maybe I've 
grown slightly more accustomed to the hotter spices, but how can I still 
trail my 10 year old daughter who's rarely ever eaten spicy foods?  There's 
got to be something more to it.

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On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:14:30 -0500, Jeremy \"UncleHoot\" Praay wrote:

> There's got to be something more to it.

It helps, I find, to build up to the spicy stuff.  I love spicy food, but 
not just "spicy-hot" but "spicy-deep".

For example, I don't think anyone would say that overdoing ginger and 
garlic in a curry would make it "hot", but it sure adds to the flavour.

But if you don't regularly have spicy-hot food, you don't build up the 
resistance to the capsaicin in it.  Even if you do, though, it's possible 
that you just can't build up sufficient resistance to it.

Dairy products are an effective counter to the burning sensation - water-
based products don't help generally because the compound isn't water-
soluble.

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> Dairy products are an effective counter to the burning sensation - water-
> based products don't help generally because the compound isn't water-
> soluble.

And acidic foods (like lemon) counters some of the burning of some sorts of 
spicey food, which is caused by alkali compounds. Which is one reason that 
places that have spicy food also tends to have a lot of citrus food.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Ouch ouch ouch!"
   "What's wrong? Noodles too hot?"
   "No, I have Chopstick Tunnel Syndrome."

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On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:52:09 -0800, Darren New wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Dairy products are an effective counter to the burning sensation -
>> water- based products don't help generally because the compound isn't
>> water- soluble.
> 
> And acidic foods (like lemon) counters some of the burning of some sorts
> of spicey food, which is caused by alkali compounds. Which is one reason
> that places that have spicy food also tends to have a lot of citrus
> food.

Yes, that also can help, depending on what it is that you've eaten, of 
course.

Jim

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Jeremy "UncleHoot" Praay wrote:
> Maybe I've grown slightly more accustomed to the hotter spices, but how can I still 
> trail my 10 year old daughter who's rarely ever eaten spicy foods?  There's 
> got to be something more to it. 

Maybe it's genetics. Some people are more sensitive to pain than others. 
People will tell you this is nonsense, and that you are indeed a wimp. 
You can believe them if you like. But consider this:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=genetic-underpinnings-of

Sam

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A hispanic friend told me a long time ago that the secret to eating spicy 
food was salt. He was telling me that his family would put salt on a hot 
pepper and just eat it. Don't know for sure but I does seem like eating 
something salty takes the edge off.

Supposedly the addiction to spicy food is due to the endorphins that are 
released in response to the burning sensation. I must admit that I feel 
pretty good after eating a spicy meal. Speaking of ginger, if you have ever 
eaten the root raw you would definitely call it "hot".



"Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message 
news:4978edb8$1@news.povray.org...
> On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:14:30 -0500, Jeremy \"UncleHoot\" Praay wrote:
>
>> There's got to be something more to it.
>
> It helps, I find, to build up to the spicy stuff.  I love spicy food, but
> not just "spicy-hot" but "spicy-deep".
>
> For example, I don't think anyone would say that overdoing ginger and
> garlic in a curry would make it "hot", but it sure adds to the flavour.
>
> But if you don't regularly have spicy-hot food, you don't build up the
> resistance to the capsaicin in it.  Even if you do, though, it's possible
> that you just can't build up sufficient resistance to it.
>
> Dairy products are an effective counter to the burning sensation - water-
> based products don't help generally because the compound isn't water-
> soluble.
>
> Jim

Post a reply to this message

stbenge wrote:
> Jeremy "UncleHoot" Praay wrote:
>> Maybe I've grown slightly more accustomed to the hotter spices, but
>> how can I still trail my 10 year old daughter who's rarely ever eaten
>> spicy foods?  There's got to be something more to it. 
> 
> Maybe it's genetics. Some people are more sensitive to pain than others.
> People will tell you this is nonsense, and that you are indeed a wimp.

	Actually, if it really is genetic, then how does that not make him a wimp?

	It's quite worse. It means he's a wimp and there's nuthin' he can do
about it!

	I don't know why the fuss over not being able to handle heavy spices -
I think it's a positive, actually. Growing up, I heard what I thought
was a made up theory, but people said that eating too much spicy food
will "kill" the taste buds. (And BTW, these were people who ate lots of
spicy food).

	Me - I have a low tolerance. I avoid anything that has a "hot" label.
With American food, mild is fine. With some other ethnicities, their
mild is way too hot.

	Anyway, a few years ago I asked a doctor friend and he said it was true
- too much spicy food will dull your taste buds. And I can easily
believe it. I sometimes cook some food and invite my friends who grew up
with spicy food over. They complain the food is all bland. I thought
they just wanted it to be "hotter". But it turns out, they have trouble
tasting any of the spices in there (pepper, etc) - whereas I can taste
them just fine.

	Or perhaps they do taste them, but their brain has been trained to
ignore it as noise...

	If there's any truth to that adage, I'll happily continue to avoid
heavy spices. And testosterone induced self immolation is all the more
reason to avoid it. Let the macho people compensate for their
insecurities, at the expense of their palatial values (and, I'm told,
their stomach as well - too much is bad for you).

-- 
When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane


                    /\  /\               /\  /
                   /  \/  \ u e e n     /  \/  a w a z
                       >>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
                                   anl

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Mueen Nawaz wrote:
> stbenge wrote:
>> Jeremy "UncleHoot" Praay wrote:
>>> Maybe I've grown slightly more accustomed to the hotter spices, but
>>> how can I still trail my 10 year old daughter who's rarely ever eaten
>>> spicy foods?  There's got to be something more to it. 
>> Maybe it's genetics. Some people are more sensitive to pain than others.
>> People will tell you this is nonsense, and that you are indeed a wimp.
> 
> 	Actually, if it really is genetic, then how does that not make him a wimp?
> 
> 	It's quite worse. It means he's a wimp and there's nuthin' he can do
> about it!

I was just throwing that out there as a possible reason.

> Let the macho people compensate for their
> insecurities, at the expense of their palatial values (and, I'm told,
> their stomach as well - too much is bad for you).

Well I like spicy foods. I'm not sure if my tastes buds have been 
damaged; food still tastes great. I don't go crazy with the spices, 
though. I don't eat heroic amounts :S

Sam

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Mueen Nawaz wrote:
> 	It's quite worse. It means he's a wimp and there's nuthin' he can do
> about it!

(snerk!)

> 	Me - I have a low tolerance. I avoid anything that has a "hot" label.

My mother-in-law is Szechwan, the area in china where they use the viscous 
spices. There were days early on when, without exageration, I'd have my eyes 
watering upstairs and on the other side of the house from the kitchen while 
my wife was cooking what she thought was pretty mild food. I've built a 
tolerance, but my wife has lost a lot of her tolerance too.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   "Ouch ouch ouch!"
   "What's wrong? Noodles too hot?"
   "No, I have Chopstick Tunnel Syndrome."

Post a reply to this message

On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:03:46 -0500, Mike Hough wrote:

> A hispanic friend told me a long time ago that the secret to eating
> spicy food was salt. He was telling me that his family would put salt on
> a hot pepper and just eat it. Don't know for sure but I does seem like
> eating something salty takes the edge off.

I don't know about salt to deal with the heat - I'll have to try that one 
myself. :-)

> Supposedly the addiction to spicy food is due to the endorphins that are
> released in response to the burning sensation. 

Yes, I've heard that as well, and as a fan of spicy foods, I would 
probably agree most days. :-)

> I must admit that I feel
> pretty good after eating a spicy meal. Speaking of ginger, if you have
> ever eaten the root raw you would definitely call it "hot".

I have had it raw (love it that way, too - we've got a huge one in the 
freezer that we use for cooking).  I wouldn't call it "hot", though, but 
"potent".

Jim

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On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:58:37 -0800, stbenge wrote:

>> Let the macho people compensate for their insecurities, at the expense
>> of their palatial values (and, I'm told, their stomach as well - too
>> much is bad for you).
> 
> Well I like spicy foods. I'm not sure if my tastes buds have been
> damaged; food still tastes great. I don't go crazy with the spices,
> though. I don't eat heroic amounts :S

If I remember correctly, taste buds are "reborn" regularly (the cells die 
off and are replaced by new ones) fairly regularly.  It's probably more 
to do with the brain's wiring than "dulling the taste buds".

A certain amount of spicy food is good for you; there are documented 
benefits to eating it, including increased immune system strength and 
capsaicin is documented (I don't know how formal the studies are, though) 
to have preventative effects on cancer.

But like anything, too much of a good thing is a bad thing.  Go 
overboard, and you can give yourself ulcers, acid reflux problems, and a 
litany of other gastro-intestinal problems.

I love spicy food.  My wife is allergic to capsaicin and any significant 
amount (she can handle trace amounts - say 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne, for 
example, in a large pot of soup, or adding a few slices of red jalapeno 
(I forget the name, but basically they're "overripe") to a bowl of Tom 
Yum soup is about her limit.

Or one "hot" wing, if that.

Jim

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Mike Hough wrote:
> A hispanic friend told me a long time ago that the secret to eating spicy 
> food was salt. He was telling me that his family would put salt on a hot 
> pepper and just eat it. Don't know for sure but I does seem like eating 
> something salty takes the edge off.

Sometimes when I use ginger in cooking I'll take a few slices of what is 
left over for myself :)

I'm one of those who is practically immune to hot, now. I get strange 
looks when I order Thai food as hot as they can make it. Those little 
Thai peppers they use are quite tasty. One waitress noticed the pepper 
in my soup, and recommended I avoid it. She came back later and the 
pepper was gone.

Did you eat that?

Yes ...

Her eyes got really wide.

Hmmm, it was hot, but not too hot. Habanero to me is what Jalapeño is to 
most others.

-- 
~Mike

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> Hmmm, it was hot, but not too hot. Habanero to me is what Jalapeño is to 
> most others.

We are just in the habit of putting Tabasco on everything here, when we 
first started off it would just be a few drops in each bowl, but now it's 
definitely a few big shakes each into a bowl of pasta or whatever.

Post a reply to this message

stbenge wrote:
> Well I like spicy foods. I'm not sure if my tastes buds have been
> damaged; food still tastes great. I don't go crazy with the spices,
> though. I don't eat heroic amounts :S

	I'm guessing you have spicy food once in a while, as opposed to my
friends who only cook spicy food.

-- 
Americans are getting stronger. Twenty years ago, it took two people to
carry ten dollars' worth of groceries. Today, a five-year-old can do it.


                    /\  /\               /\  /
                   /  \/  \ u e e n     /  \/  a w a z
                       >>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
                                   anl

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On Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:40:21 +0100, scott wrote:

>> Hmmm, it was hot, but not too hot. Habanero to me is what Jalapeño is
>> to most others.
> 
> We are just in the habit of putting Tabasco on everything here, when we
> first started off it would just be a few drops in each bowl, but now
> it's definitely a few big shakes each into a bowl of pasta or whatever.

I don't really care for Tabasco for most things - the vinegar tends to 
cut too much.  There's a good widely-available Korean hot sauce that's 
outstanding, though.

Jim

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On Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:03:46 -0500, "Mike Hough" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:

>A hispanic friend told me a long time ago that the secret to eating spicy 
>food was salt. He was telling me that his family would put salt on a hot 
>pepper and just eat it. Don't know for sure but I does seem like eating 
>something salty takes the edge off.
>

A gourmand once told me that capsaicin is soluble in fat and to take away the
"heat" of spicy food drink milk. It works with yoghurt or lassi (sweet or
salty).

>Supposedly the addiction to spicy food is due to the endorphins that are 
>released in response to the burning sensation. I must admit that I feel 
>pretty good after eating a spicy meal. Speaking of ginger, if you have ever 
>eaten the root raw you would definitely call it "hot".
>

Endorphins hmm! 
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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"Mike Hough" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
> A hispanic friend told me a long time ago that the secret to eating spicy
> food was salt. He was telling me that his family would put salt on a hot
> pepper and just eat it. Don't know for sure but I does seem like eating
> something salty takes the edge off.

It makes some sense: I hear that one of the reasons why you shouldn't try to
counter the burning effect by drinking water is that it actually only sort of
washes the hot stuff out of your meal and spreads it everywhere in your mouth.

So on the other hand, if you eat bread, that will dry up your mouth somewhat, so
the hot stuff can't be "washed out" that easily. So I'd expect that salt helps
in the same way, by binding water.

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