Celebrity chef Arun Kapil will live on Moncrieff this afternoon, telling Sean how he handles the heat in the kitchen, and how spicy food is about to be the next big flavour in Irish cuisine.
Tune in live today at 2.30pm: http://www.newstalk.com/player/
There have long been claims that men who gorge themselves on burning hot spices are fuelled by higher levels of testosterone, downing ever hotter hot sauces to showcase their fire-breathing masculinity. And now science says they’ve been lying all along.
A recent study has shown that men have been telling porky pies while munching on their carnitas burritos, lying that they love hot foods in order to appear fearless and macho.
A new study by Penn State researchers has revealed that a large number of hombres pretend to enjoy hot Sriracha sauc to appear tougher, while women are more likely to consume the condiment because they actually enjoy the taste.
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The study, published in the journal Food Quality & Preference, men feel emasculated by the idea that “you should eat food that tastes good to you,” instead choosing to consume spicy Sriracha sauce due to “sensitivity to reward.”
The researchers wrote, “It is possible that the cultural association of consuming spicy foods with strength and machismo has created a learned social reward for men.”
While the data does not reflect individual tastes and preferences, it does suggest that when a man goads his mates into swallowing something gonad-shrivellingly spicy, he’s probably just trying to prove he’s a man.
And perhaps that pretence comes at a price, as a new study released on Tuesday suggest that people who love spicy foods are more vulnerable to stress.
A south Korean researcher has determined that a group of spicy-food lovers showed higher cortisol levels in a stress test than those who prefer bland and mild flavours. Cortisol is a hormone released in response to stress or low blood sugar.
Spice girls and boys seemingly try to activate their central nervous system by munching on hot foods in order to alleviate their elevated stress levels, the report said.
[Reddit]
