Title poses the question.
I went to eat with some friends and when I put a liberal helping of a spicy sauce on my food she said something to the effect of “I don’t eat spicy food because it damages your taste buds”.
I find this pretty hard to swallow, as it would mean that entire cultures waste away their taste buds on eating hot peppers and other spices.
I defer this question to the powers of the sdmb. Please enlighten this poor sod.
Taste buds grow back. Your friend is a little bit right and a whole lotta wrong. Super-spicy foods may numb your taste buds for a bit, but any long-term damage is unlikely unless you’re chugging pure cap.
In the short run, however, strong flavors can interfere with later subtleties. As a beer judge, I always taste highly hopped beers after I’ve sampled the lighter ones. Otherwise an Imperial IPA will render a delicate wheat beer tasteless.