Who Else Likes To Self-Torture With Spicy Food?

[pulykamell]

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

I think you mean the sensitivity of those who eat them often is lower, not higher, right?

Yes. My sentence started with “sensitivity,” but my ending had “tolerance” in mind.

[pulykamell]

@billfish678

I’ve been meaning for a year or two to start a general questions thread about this very thing. Do you just develop a tolerance/like for the hotter stuff or do you actually lose the ability to taste the not so hot stuff?

I think there’s a bit of both going on. Very low heat levels I find difficult to taste and distinguish. I have to be very careful cooking for people who are not used to spicy food, because a spice level that barely registers for me might be very hot for them. Just ask my SO. I’ve gotten better about it, but I still have difficulty figuring out what’s too spicy for her and what’s not. Sometimes, I think I’ve got it way too spicy, and it’s fine for her. Other times, I think it’s mild, and it’s too spicy for her.

And it feels to me like physically I am not as affected by spicy food. I remember as a teenager when one fresh jalapeno would have me in pain for 15-20 minutes, and now even the heat of a fresh habanero dissipates within 5-10 minutes for me.

[medstar]

@pulykamell

I’ve ruined two pairs of contacts that way. First time was stupidity–forgot to wash hands. The second time I was cutting up Thai peppers and made sure to wash with soap and water repeatedly before trying to take my contacts off. Didn’t matter. My eyes spasmed shut and I had the damnest time trying to get those things out. Then, instead of throwing them away, I put them in solution and put them back on my eyes the next morning. :smack: Ouch.

Did you also scrub under your fingernails with a soapy nail brush and then rinse very well? Sometimes debris collects under the nails and ordinary handwashing won’t dislodge it; you need to brush it out.

[pulykamell]

I thought I had dug into a bar of soap with my fingernails and scrubbed them, but I could be wrong.

[dogbutler]

@Alice_The_Goon

I love spicy food. It hasn’t always been this way, but after 15 years in the southwest, I’ve adapted. When I go to Subway, I will get the bread with jalapenos in it, jalapenos on the sandwich, and also chipotle (smoked jalapeno) sauce on it. Wheee! It burns so good. I also like to go to Charley’s Grilled Subs and get a Chicken Buffalo sub with extra buffalo sauce on the side. The sandwich is mildy hot, but when I add the extra sauce, smoke comes out of my ears.

Eating like this is really almost like torture- I can bring myself to tears doing it, and yet, I can’t stop. It’s so masochistic. I attribute it to a lack of sex- I think my body wants a dangerous thrill, and so this is how it will get it, for now.

Do you do this to yourself?

yes, because it hurts so good.

[phantom_lamb]

Yep, addicted to the spicy.
I love habaneros for their taste though, not just the spicyness. That fruity peppery taste is mouth-wateringly good.

[raskolnik]

I got one of the little green spicy peppers from Korea…
…in my eye. That was torture. Me and the social studies teacher got drunk and strated building towers out of peppers and toothpicks and I wiped my eyes from all the smoke in the room…AGHHHHH! The eye is a bad place for peppers.