Some Like It Hot

This week I bought a half bushel of peppers from my friend LeAnne. I was choking and crying and burning as I was processing them, and I started wondering why some people love hot, spicy food.

I can tolerate the occasional jalapeño, but we don’t do a lot of blazing inferno, tear-inducing, gasping-for-air foods in our house, at least not on purpose.

In 2007, a variety of pepper was developed that had everyone talking. The Ghost Pepper was 170 times hotter than Tabasco sauce, and was rated at more than one million Scoville Heat Units.

The Scoville scale is a measurement of spiciness or “heat” of chili peppers, which is based on the concentration of capsaicin in the pepper.

The Carolina Reaper claimed the title of “World’s Hottest Pepper” in 2013. The reaper is so burning hot it has caused health issues in some people who’ve eaten it.

One man was admitted to the emergency room with severe headaches caused from vasoconstriction (constricted arteries) in his brain after eating a reaper. After five weeks the arteries returned to normal. A racing heartbeat and heart attacks have also been linked to consuming extremely hot peppers, as well as the obvious digestive aftermath.

The Caroline Reaper has been overthrown, and the hottest pepper is now Pepper X. Even hotter varieties are awaiting release.

Why in the blue blazes would someone possibly endanger their life by eating hot peppers? The endorphin high.

When you eat something spicy that contains the chemical capsaicin, it binds to receptors in your brain that respond to pain in your mouth and throat. The brain gets the message and sends out a response team to remove the hot substance, resulting in increased circulation, cooling perspiration, and typical reactions to an irritant (runny nose and teary eyes). The pain also leads to a release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, which flood the diner with blissful feelings. Spicy foods make them feel good.

Genetically, some people are born with fewer receptors for capsaicin and have a built-in tolerance for heat. I am of Irish and English descent, and I can’t take the heat, climate-wise or food-wise. So, to all you heat lovers, stay spicy.