From Legal Nomads (legalnomads.com) Author Jodi Ettenberg
So why do we eat them if it hurts? Scientific American thinks we like the burn, tolerating the pain for the pleasure of the whole. They note:
“Perhaps we seek out the painful experience of snacking on chillies while consciously maintaining awareness that there is no real danger to ourselves. After all, people seem to enjoy – and actively seek out – many other sensations that are otherwise undesirable but are ostensibly safe: the sensation of falling provided by rollercoasters or skydiving, the feelings of fear and anxiety while watching horror movies, the physical pain experienced upon jumping into icy water, or even the feelings of sadness that come while watching a tear-jerker.”
Over the years, scientists have theorized that the evolutionary reason chilies burn is to dissuade mammals from eating them. In “The Complicated Evolution of the Spicy Chili Pepper” Harvard’s Cat Adams notes that scientists found that while certain mammals avoid spicy plants, birds do not, attributing this finding to the fact that birds lack the receptor to feel the “capsaicin burn,” whereas mammals have them just like we do. So birds won’t feel any feel pain from eating even the spiciest of chilies, allowing their seeds to flourish. In contrast, if mammals like cactus mice snacked on the chili plants, they ground up all the seeds in their teeth. Not good for continuation of the plant.
So it makes sense, then, that the capsaicin would be an active deterrent for mammals — except us crazy humans who love them — and not for birds. Regardless, we can’t deny the pain. From weapons to the much less innocuous sobbing-while-eating-Sichuan-food, eating chilies isn’t for everyone.