# Why eat food that causes pain? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370 "2003-07-28T04:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sinshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sinshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinshine)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/21 "2003-07-28T18:17:44Z")
Seafood. I love seafood. I looooove seafood. But if I don’t have Pepto Bismol for both an appie AND dessert, seafood fails to love me back. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![greck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ab992/32.png) [@greck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greck)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/22 "2003-07-28T21:57:43Z")
I grew up in New Mexico. There, everything comes slathered in either red or green chile (either a puree of the red pepper or pieces of the green new mexico chile pepper, not to be confused with texas style “chili”). Usually, the hotter the chile, the more tasty it is, so even if it hurts, its REALLY GOOD. Then there’s the endorphins, a nice bonus. Having moved away, I need the chile periodically, and spicy food frequently. It makes me feel less depressed, more alive sometimes. Most of the time, it just makes the food more exciting. The eating experience is more intense with more spice. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/23 "2003-07-28T22:23:25Z")
Both my mother and my husband love wasabi (you know, that green not-horseradish paste you get with sushi?)… and not just because it tastes good. They both seriously jones on a wasabi high. The best-quality wasabi I’ve been able to find available in a grocery comes in a tube, like toothpaste. My husband occasionally fits the tip in his mouth and presses down on the tube, hard. The spice that rides _my_ back is whatever they put on **Cheetos®** **Flamin’ Hot®**. They are evil, but oh, such tasty evil! Can you get those anywhere but Texas? If not, I will never move. I do know that the more you eat spicy foods, the more you can tolerate… and so the more you need to get the rush. So maybe the salsa you’re referring to was made by lifelong unrepentant capsaicin fiends. Do you think the Drug Czar knows about this phenomenon? ---
**Author:** ![cajela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cajela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cajela)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/24 "2003-07-29T00:22:49Z")
I’m fairly heat tolerant myself. I can swig tabasco from the bottle, but not habanero sauce! There are occasionally dishes I find just too hot, but not often. Anyway, I have two options, one sane, one silly: 1. Tolerance builds up. Things that I find pleasantly hot now are to a couple of chili-phobic friends of mine quite unbearable. And probably would have been unbearable to me 15 years ago. 2. Macho competitions. British blokes are particularly bad at this, in my experience. They don’t care whether it’s good food or not, as long as they can eat hotter food than the other bloke. (BTW, are women ever this stupid? Not in my experience, but i wouldn’t rule it out.) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/25 "2003-07-29T01:36:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Calculus of Logic \* > \*\*i read a book by david lieberman called instant analysis where he lists the reasons for 100 or so common activities. > > Supposedly eating food that will cause you pain is because your life has so little pleasure in it and so much pain that you have to take any pleasure you can get. The pain afterwards is nothing new. \*\* Is the rest of the book this ridiculous? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/26 "2003-07-29T02:56:25Z")
Hurts so good, C’mon baby make it hurt so good… ::sprinkles some more dried habañeros on top of the chili:: I like it when you get the little flash of light when you bite in, your forehead sweats, your nose runs, and you hiccup. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/27 "2003-07-29T03:00:20Z")
I keep a shaker of [chipotle powder](http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyschipotle.html) in my desk drawer at work for triage on our cafeteria food. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/28 "2003-07-29T03:16:17Z")
I think it’s the rush of endorphins. Plus, you can’t just hop right into the painfully hot things. Those are for the people that work their tolerance up over time. And building up a tolerance (or numbness even) is the key. New Years Eve two years ago, I was dared to eat 25 jalepenos in 10 minutes. Now, normally I love hot foods, but after 8 or 9, everything from my lips on down to my stomache was ablaze. But then by about 15, my whole body was numb and hopped up on endorphins, and I just popped the rest of 'em down like Milk Duds. But then-- holy ring of bloody fire-- my ass was absolutely _furious_ with me for the next three days. Even the passing of gas left a slow smoldering burn to remind me of my “accomplishment.” I’m not sure the anus can build up a tolerance to such things. Happy ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/29 "2003-07-29T04:14:30Z")
I have to say that anyone who would eat anything that comes out of a jar with a picture of a guy with flames literally shooting out his anus has some serious masochistic tendencies. ---
**Author:** ![Lenny\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9dc877/32.png) [@Lenny\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lenny_Carl)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/30 "2003-07-30T20:02:34Z")
I love, love, love hot and spicy foods! The hotter the better. I love hot sauces, hot salsas, hot everything. I’ll even combine two or more different hot sauces to make my own _super hot sauce!!!_ Here in Los Angeles, we have a Farmers Market. One of the shops there is a hot sauce store. They have shelves and shelves of hot sauces. The shelves have numbers on them: 1 = mild heat 10 = super hot they even have a 10+++ section!!! So far, I’ve only gotten to a 9, but I plan to move up to a 10 one of these days!! I can’t even _imagine_ what a 10+++ must taste like! I believe there’s a sauce ( **Dave’s Insanity Sauce** ) that requires you to sign a waiver before you can buy it. If you are going to use this product, you have to agree to warn anyone about the extreme heat. They say if you simply dip a toothpick into the sauce and mix that into a pot of chili, it’ll blow you head off!!! YEAH!!! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/31 "2003-07-30T20:07:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cisco \* > \*\*Is the rest of the book this ridiculous? \*\* depends on what your definition of the word is is. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/32 "2003-07-30T20:22:03Z")
[Blair’s](http://extremefood.com/product.php?id=10) has some serious kick to it. For everyday use, I prefer [El Yucateco](http://www.elyucateco.com/) though. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/33 "2003-07-31T01:03:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lenny & Carl \* > \*\*I believe there’s a sauce ( **Dave’s Insanity Sauce** ) that requires you to sign a waiver before you can buy it. If you are going to use this product, you have to agree to warn anyone about the extreme heat. They say if you simply dip a toothpick into the sauce and mix that into a pot of chili, it’ll blow you head off!!! YEAH!!! \*\* I used to have a bottle of this. I didn’t have to sign a waiver. It is pretty damn hot. **Interesting effect Dave’s Insanity Sauce has:** People will **beg** you to try this stuff. They will beg and plead and get down on their knees and bet you real money that they will be able to chug it without so much as wincing. Then when you finally get tired of warning them and let them have it, what do they do? Well they get **MAD** , of course! What a jerk you were for not warning them about that awful stuff! And I’m not just talking about one or two people. I never let anyone get near the stuff without numerous and extreme warnings yet, despite my best intentions I’ve had the following experiences after introducing people to old Dave: -Been swung at -Tackled -Chased -Seen not one, but _2_ grown men cry - **Had the stuff rubbed in my eyes** My bottle finally met its end when a tough guy who bet me $20 that he could take it without changing his facial expression got pissed and threw it away. After nearly 5 years the bottle was still 2/3rds full. And yet, despite all of this, Dave’s has a Scoville rating of only 100,000. Impressive compared to the average Jalepeno coming in around 2,000-3,000, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Blair’s 5am with a whopping **five million** Scoville units. As far as I know that’s the hottest stuff ever made, and costs $500 a bottle if I recall correctly. \*All numbers from memory and could be wrong. Look it up if you care _that_ much ;). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/34 "2003-07-31T02:01:21Z")
I had a link to a 10 million Scoville unit food additive, but it’s broken. Supposedly the capsaicin content was so high in the oil, that pure cap would crystallize out of it. I like the hot stuff, really. More heat, more flavor. And I keep a bottle of viscous lidocaine handy to deal with any serious wolf-ass that might develop (I’m pretty immune to it by now). But really, anything stronger than half a million scoville units loses my interest pretty quick. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/35 "2003-07-31T02:32:58Z")
They say capsiacin acts on pain receptors but to me it’s a different sensation than outright pain. I mean, I wouldn’t stick a needle in my tongue. But I love hot peppers. Wasabi is really fun too. I get more of a sudden jumping-around-the-room rush out of that. One thing I swear is good for you but have absolutely no proof of, is taking a niacin tablet & then hitting the wasabi or hot pepper. It totally flushes your skin & sinuses. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/36 "2003-07-31T02:41:44Z")
I’ve seen bottles of pure capsaicin in hot sauce stores. They usually come in a dropper bottle inside a wide mouth jar with a child safety lid. I have no intention of trying them 🙂 I’ll stick to the local Jamaican and Belizean places that make their own home made jerk sauces like **An Arky** mentions…woo boy! They add carrot to them to balance the flavour, complex yet fiery. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/37 "2003-07-31T02:59:54Z")
This is weird… I’m breaking out in a thin film of sweat just _reading_ this thread. Is it common to be sensitive enough to capsaicin that you can actually feel when someone is using it? Earlier this week, I was able to tell when my co-worker had opened his bottle of hot sauce, and yesterday I was able to tell when my extra-hot curry was ready. In both cases, I could feel a prickling sensation pass over my face and neck. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/38 "2003-07-31T03:12:02Z")
why do people get tattoos or piercings? You can argue that it’s the endorphin rush, or to look tough, or both, just like with any self-inflicted pain. Personally, I like the physical reward you get for enduring it. (But I don’t go for pain that comes back later with a bowel-ripping vengeance; that’s just plain mad.) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/39 "2003-07-31T03:25:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*This is weird… I’m breaking out in a thin film of sweat just _reading_ this thread. > > Is it common to be sensitive enough to capsaicin that you can actually feel when someone is using it? Earlier this week, I was able to tell when my co-worker had opened his bottle of hot sauce, and yesterday I was able to tell when my extra-hot curry was ready. In both cases, I could feel a prickling sensation pass over my face and neck. \*\* I’d suspect that’s some sort of sympathetic memory type sensation brought on by the smell. But capsaicin can be easily aerosolized. Hence the personal defense pepper spray products. And have you ever spent time chopping your own hot peppers? The other day I was grinding some dried peppers in a spice mill to make my own hot pepper powder. I could hardly talk with all the sneezing, coughing, eyes watering, etc. It was fun, tho. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370/40 "2003-07-31T11:58:16Z")
:::edging away from **levdrakon** ::: Yes … fun … of course … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-eat-food-that-causes-pain/191370.md?page=3)