Ionce turned to my partner as he tucked into a spicy takeaway meal and asked him, “How does that actually feel? Like, in your mouth? Does it hurt sometimes?”

I had expected him to say no, that it wasn’t painful, just gave him a bit of a thrill. Instead he responded that yes, it was sometimes painful but that was part of the joy of it.

Now, as somebody that has found certain barbecue sauces a bit much, this baffled me. You eat it almost because it’s painful? Hmm.

It turns out that there is actually real science behind this though and my partner’s questionable tastebuds are completely normal. Maybe I’m the weird one? Probably not worth overthinking it...

Spicy food hurts, but in a good way

“Most spicy food will contain the chemical capsaicin – it’s found in things like chillies

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