Eating spicy food has been customary in many eastern cultures for many centuries. Since humans discovered spices we have always experimented with various flavors and tastes to flavor our foods. Grinding barks from trees and crushing the leaves and seed of a bush was part of the experimenting process. How else could we as people know how something tastes unless we put it in our mouth and tasted it? Just as a young toddler or child putting things in their mouth for curiosity we as adults to the same with curiosity. So why then did we accept or like the taste of something burning our tongues?!
The answer is because it simply made food taste better. The complexity of food favors come from contrast. We could never appreciate cool milk or yogurt without having our mouth burn with fiery pepper the same way we could not fully enjoy the sweetness of a savory vegetable without the contrast of heat.
Today we know that spicy food actually provides some very good benefits. For one it naturally speeds up our metabolism which aids in the digestion of food effectively and efficiently. Eating spicy foods also help in breathing more easily while experiencing a cold and stuffed up nose.
