I am a glutton when it comes to hot salsa. I crave the burn every day and sometimes more than once a day. Besides the calories in the chips I use to deliver my drug of choice (it's synergistic with the fat in the chips and I don't get the same buzz from piling salsa on my salad), I'm worried about my digestive tract and stomach...can it lead to stomach cancer or other long-term problems? When I eat "enough" salsa, it actually gives me a high, euphoric feeling. I am assuming it is endorphens released in response to the pain (the hotter the better and quicker it works) but I have been unable to find any serious info on salsa or spicy food addiction anywhere on the internet. I have only found encouraging news about the helthful benefits of hot peppers...but my instinct tells me that, as with any other "good" thing, too much can be dangerous. I'm VERY serious about needing help. Having an addiction that is 1) legal, 2) virtually unnoticable, and 3) uncommon, has made me feel so alone and confused over the past 20 years. And I grow more ashamed and terrified as my secret agony takes up more and more of my life. Have you ever heard of such a thing? Where can I turn for help? God Bless you ALL! SantaBarbaraMom@hotmail.com
Are you kidding me? Not to be a jerk but people are dyin' here.
You're not a jerk...I realize that there are "bigger" problems out there than mine. That's why I've shut up about it for 20+ years. I do feel foolish complaining about it, although I was hospitalized after a suicide attempt 9 months ago, so I do understand the depression and despair of being out of control. I picked the miscellaneous board to keep a lower profile and not insult the serious substance abusers with my trifle.
There is a man where I work who was a heroin addict but he went to a hospital in Mexico and was put in a coma for 5 days and given a blood transfusion. Talk about risky...but It cured him of his physical dependency to smack and anti-depressants helped him cope with the psychological issues. There is hope for everyone who really wants it. Seek and ye shall find!
There is a man where I work who was a heroin addict but he went to a hospital in Mexico and was put in a coma for 5 days and given a blood transfusion. Talk about risky...but It cured him of his physical dependency to smack and anti-depressants helped him cope with the psychological issues. There is hope for everyone who really wants it. Seek and ye shall find!
well the active "drug"/chemical in chili peppers is capsaicin, which can cause a "rush" to the eater.
from the web site http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/3378/d...ynamicfacts.htm
"Dr. Andrew Weil believes that chile eaters experience a "rush" similar to that produced by psychotropic drugs. He calls the experience "Mouth Surfing": in his words, "the chile eater glides along on the strong stimulation, experiencing it as something between pleasure and pain that enforces concentration and brings about a high state of consciousness."
so 1 could argue, the capscicin, may be pain/pleausre addiction. one that triggers the pleasure centers of the brain etc ( pleasure center addiction is 1 theory among many others, it is not the end all be all word on addiction)
from the web site http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/3378/d...ynamicfacts.htm
"Dr. Andrew Weil believes that chile eaters experience a "rush" similar to that produced by psychotropic drugs. He calls the experience "Mouth Surfing": in his words, "the chile eater glides along on the strong stimulation, experiencing it as something between pleasure and pain that enforces concentration and brings about a high state of consciousness."
so 1 could argue, the capscicin, may be pain/pleausre addiction. one that triggers the pleasure centers of the brain etc ( pleasure center addiction is 1 theory among many others, it is not the end all be all word on addiction)
