What biological and cultural factors explain why many people enjoy eating spicy food despite the burning sensation?
A spicy paradox Spicy food is a strange case: it literally hurts, yet about 80% of people enjoy it anyway 13 . That "burn" isn't a taste — capsaicin, the hot molecule in chili peppers, binds to TRPV1 receptors, the same heat and pain sensors found on nerve cells in...
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