Why do we eat spicy food? 大家为何喜欢吃辣？
虽然辛辣食物会刺激口内黏膜，叫人舌头发麻、嘴巴冒火，浑身冒汗，但不少人觉得吃辣是 痛并开心的，甚至 无辣不欢。辣椒是世界各地很多菜肴中的重要成分。本期节目从科学和历史两方面剖析大家热衷吃辣是什么原因。
词语：sensation 感受
You know the feeling your ears start to warm up, your tonguegoes numb, you start sweating and taking deep breaths. Youve just eaten something spicy knowing it would be painful, and, yet, you chose to do it anyway. Are humans justmasochistic, or is there something else going on? The answer lies in both science and history.
Lets start with the science. Spicy isnt actually atastelike salty, sweet,sourandbitter its asensation. This sensation istriggeredby achemical compoundfound in chilli peppers called capsaicin. When we eat foodscontainingcapsaicin, our bodies aretrickedinto thinking the temperature is actually rising. In trying totemperthe burning sensation, our bodiesreleaseendorphinswhich control pain and, at the same time, give a feeling of pleasure like painkillers.
This is what is happening chemically, but there is also aconsciousside to choosing spicy food. Dr Tamara Rosenbaum, Cognitive Neuroscientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, explains in an interview with the BBC that this is because we arerationalbeings we know that the burning sensation of chilli does not physically harm us. Furthermore, wederivepleasure from the other ingredients chilli is generally cooked and eaten with including fat, sugar and salt. So like skyping eating chilli is a form ofthrill-seekingor benignmasochism, where we get pleasure from a seemingly negative sensation.
This masochistic relationship with capsaicin has been a long one, starting in the Andes of South America, where chilli peppers originate. Humans were one of the few mammals on Earth thatdevelopeda taste forcapsaicin so, archaeological evidence suggests, they startedcultivatingchilli peppers about six thousand years ago. Humaninterventionchanged the chilli pepper to suit human tastes and needs including the peppers colour, size and capsaicincontent helping to explain the many different types of chilli peppers now available.
Fast-forward to today, and our love affair with the chilli pepper isgoing strong. We eat around 57.3 million tons of peppers globally each year, and chilli is a key ingredient in traditional dishes from Mexico to Korea. Maybe we are masochistic after all.
词语表
go numb 发麻
masochistic 自讨苦吃的，自找罪受的
taste 味道
sour 酸的
bitter 苦的
sensation 感觉
trigger 引发，触发
chemical compound 化合物
capsaicin 辣椒素
contain 含有
trick 使产生错觉
temper 使缓和
release 释放
endorphin 内啡肽
conscious 有意的
rational being 理性的动物
derive 获得，得到
thrill-seeking 寻求刺激的
benign masochism 良性自虐，从不适中得到享受
develop a taste for 培养吃的习惯
cultivate 种植
intervention 干涉
content 含量
going strong 依然强烈
