Have you become accustomed to spicy food?

[britgent]

I only ask as so many friends here simply can't eat the spicy foods on offer, including myself.

I tried conditioning myself upon arrival but this resulted in abject misery of stomach pains and emergency bowel movements.

But as falang are we designed not to eat spicy food bar the odd exceptional person or can we teach our bodies to accept spicy food stuffs?

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[GrantSmith]

Personally I've acclimatised to eating spicy food over the 6 months that I've been here full time.

My mother-in-law gets a kick out of it now that I can eat hotter foods than her. She makes the spiciest panang curry I've ever eaten but now she doesn't warn me about how hot it's going to be as she knows that I can handle it.

She warns the wife though and she's been eating it since she was a kid...

Overall, I find myself adding more and more chilli to dishes that I normally wouldn't add... More and more wasabi to sushi and sashimi dishes as well...

[Hawkman]

I like spicy food but unfortunately my stomach can't handle it and causes me misery plus flames my face red which then causes people to think I'm drunk when I'm not. To be honest there's loads of Thais now that don't like or can't handle food too spicy now.

[poanoi]

I became accustomed after a year or so, but it has now reversed so i eat spicy 1 time per day.

[HeijoshinCool]

Even my dogs have become used to it. There's research that states canines become addicted, like humans, to the heat.

It's even supposed to help with Alzheimer's, but I can't remember where I read that.

[canman]

I do enjoy spicy food and can usually keep up with Thai tastes. Unfortunately as I always say when asked I love chillies but they don't like me. Same as other posters here, 6 hours after consuming chillies, cramps and toilet dashes.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

i can eat spicy as you please.

I pay the tax a few hours later though.

its not just thai food either.

[mickjn]

I am nid noi spicy.Any more I have blown the arse out of the rompers on more than one occasion

[hanno]

Having grown up with Indian food, I have to eat everything spicy. Mind you, have had meals that did make me sweat.

[Kommiekat]

I am the type of person who puts spice on my hot peppers.

[Jingthing]

I've been a chili (and spice) head for decades before moving to Thailand. Loving and "tolerating" spicy food has no relation to race. It's a matter of your personal tastes which of course can be influenced by your culture. What continues to amuse me (happened last night) is how often speaking phet phet at a restaurant, get's this confirmation response -- MAI PHET. I know they heard me correctly . Another annoying thing that often happens, is that once a restaurant gets I'm a spicy lover, they make ALL dishes that way, even ones I didn't ask for it that way. It doesn't work with all Thai food dishes so they basically totally change (more like ruin) the actual dish sometimes, which I did NOT ask for.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Jingthing

[Puyai]

Been eating spicy food everyday for the last 5 years and still have the morning clear out, sometimes more that than once. I can count the number of solid evacuations I've had on one hand. So no, I don't think your stomach ever gets used to it. The Thais I know have the same problem.

[Jingthing]

Been eating spicy food everyday for the last 5 years and still have the morning clear out, sometimes more that than once. I can count the number of solid evacuations I've had on one hand. So no, I don't think your stomach ever gets used to it. The Thais I know have the same problem.

It's your normal. Chilies and spices are very beneficial health promoters overall. I have witnessed bland eaters transition to spicy lovers without trauma. I think for many people their feelings about chilies are a kind of hysterical PHOBIA.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Jingthing

[somtampet]

Thais look at my spicy food when in a restaraunt, i can here them say look at farang eating very spicy.My body aches for extra spicy,and i do believe its a form of drug,as many thais i know have the same longing.

[Jingthing]

Thais look at my spicy food when in a restaraunt, i can here them say look at farang eating very spicy.My body aches for extra spicy,and i do believe its a form of drug,as many thais i know have the same longing.

Yes it's addictive. In a good way.

Yes sometimes Thais will coo over you for being good at eating spicy food. It's quite odd.

The other day a salad making lady who didn't know it was a f-rang who ordered a laab gai came to deliver it and was looking for a Thai to serve it to, and then I called the dish to me, and she practically had a stroke. I loved it. Would have preferred it spicier though.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Jingthing

[kennedy]

Spicy food is OK. Second hand spice while swapping spit, not so OK.

[h90]

Having grown up with Indian food, I have to eat everything spicy. Mind you, have had meals that did make me sweat.

Same here. while I am 100 % European my parents loved to cook Indian and Indonesian and I always wanted the same food as my father eats and not the less spicy my mother made for me.

Now I can eat a lot spicier than Bangkok Thais. (Southern Thais eat some lovely spicy curries which is way hotter than anything in BKK).

[Jasun]

Been eating spicy food everyday for the last 5 years and still have the morning clear out, sometimes more that than once. I can count the number of solid evacuations I've had on one hand. So no, I don't think your stomach ever gets used to it. The Thais I know have the same problem.

We're getting closer to the real reason why the 'bum gun' was invented.

[hanno]

Having grown up with Indian food, I have to eat everything spicy. Mind you, have had meals that did make me sweat.

Same here. while I am 100 % European my parents loved to cook Indian and Indonesian and I always wanted the same food as my father eats and not the less spicy my mother made for me.

Now I can eat a lot spicier than Bangkok Thais. (Southern Thais eat some lovely spicy curries which is way hotter than anything in BKK).

I actually grew up in Kenya and had many Indian friends. I certainly can eat than my Thai girlfriend:-) But I did have a dish in Krabi a few years ago, can't remember what it was, that had me in tears.

[canuckamuck]

Been eating spicy food everyday for the last 5 years and still have the morning clear out, sometimes more that than once. I can count the number of solid evacuations I've had on one hand. So no, I don't think your stomach ever gets used to it. The Thais I know have the same problem.

Strange enough to do it on your hand, even stranger to count the occasions.

[Jingthing]

I rarely have any of these famous side effects. I reckon a lot of times it's just mild food poisoning and not related to spices. Lots of food sold here that just isn't very clean.

[seajae]

I can eat spicier than when I first arrived but if it is too spicy I just about have to sit in a bucket of icecream for relief a few hours later. Still cannot come at a lot of what the wife eats, she just adds extra chilli to everything. Pisses me off, I love curries but the ones here in the south are just too hot unless the wife gets the muslim curry paste from the market, they dont have as much chilli in them .

[canuckamuck]

I can eat whatever is served spice wise. Unfortunately within 6 to 10 hours my hong nam becomes a nuclear dump site.

[FritsSikkink]

No problems eating spicy food (eating it for over 35 years)

[TheSpade]

I used to eat chillis for fun. Just munch then out the packet and it was easy. I'd ask for extra spicy at Thai restaurants etc.

Now I can't tolerate as spicy as I used to for some reason but I love the taste. Just sometimes I struggle with it a bit. My apartment restaurant does a steamed chicken with lime and chilli paste dish and it's the best thing I've ever tasted but it's too hot for me to finish and when asking for less spicy it's never the same and tastes rubbish.

[Forethat]

Thais look at my spicy food when in a restaraunt, i can here them say look at farang eating very spicy.My body aches for extra spicy,and i do believe its a form of drug,as many thais i know have the same longing.

It's addictive, simple as that.

I became so addicted to it I was munching monster spicy food 5 times/day. Eventually, I had an ulcer on my small intestine that caused an inflamed abdominal cavity and wall. The spicy juices had actually burnt a hole on the intestine. You see, it's one thing getting your mouth accustomed to the spicy food, the rest of the body is something else.

After that event I had to cut down - doctors orders - so I'm down to 12 chillies in my SomTam

[razorramone]

Nope. I never got used to it in S.America and I haven't been able to here either.

Sometimes I find just walking past a food cart which is cooking something particularly spicy is enough, the smell alone makes me start coughing and my eyes watering.

Then again, I'm fine with hot indian curries which there are plenty of in the UK. So maybe you can get used to it.

[Jingthing]

Spicy food does not cause ulcers.

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[Forethat]

Spicy food does not cause ulcers.

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Did I say that the spicy food caused the ulcer?

A reduced gastric mucosa is by definition the ulcer and while this is not caused by chillies, chillies in your food will increase the levels of gastric acids.

Now you know.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Forethat

[whiteman]

Lived here 10 years so the answer is yessssssssssss no ulcers as yet

Edited August 21, 2013 by whiteman