# does spicy food degrade taste buds?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spicy-food-degrade-taste-buds/451211>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 30, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spicy-food-degrade-taste-buds/451211 "2008-05-30T23:46:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![eldowan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@eldowan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eldowan)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spicy-food-degrade-taste-buds/451211/1 "2008-05-30T23:46:35Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-spicy-food-degrade-taste-buds/451211/2 "2008-05-31T00:17:00Z")

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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.