You're probably just sensitive to capsaicin. I love hot food, and it takes a lot for me to end up in agony like you described. But I've definitely been that guy at an Indian place where I'm sweating profusely while telling the staff the food is delicious.

Finding a hot sauce that tastes good/doesn't taste like hot garbage is harder than actually eating food seasoned with it.

The pain is kind of the point. More specifically the body's response to pain is the point. Eating spicy food, especially mild foods when starting, is a low level pain but it triggers the body's pain response. You get those nice dopamine and endorphins released. You end up associating the two and your journey to liking spicy food has begun.

It's why many women enjoy being spanked. Pain and pleasure have a really intricate, interconnected system.

It might be because I am also a bit of a masochist, but spicy food just taste better

Also you can build a tolerance for spicy food, I am in the unfortunate position that my mouth is much more tolerant than my ass (that I do not have the gene to digest capsaicin is a curse I levy upon my ancestors)

My mom, a wonderful lady in every other sense, was a terrible cook. The blandest of the bland. Unseasoned potatoes and overcooked meat was the norm. Even when she branched out to other things like stir fry and pizza, she still somehow managed to make them utterly flavorless.

I distinctly recall one day at school, somehow I ended up with a little too much pepper in my tomato soup. It was like my taste buds had finally come of age or something. I started regularly adding too much pepper to my tomato soup. Then Tobasco. Then, as a young adult I found a specialty hot sauce place in the mall. It was the second coming!

Now, I live in Korea, and wow they're not afraid to spice it up here. I do get tired of the constant "Oh, the waygook (foreigner) can handle spicy food!" refrain though.

It gets easier the more spicy food you eat. I think your brain just starts muting the pain response because it clearly isn't stopping the painful thing from happening.

Also, spiciness is an easy way to get some flavor into an otherwise bland dish. Handy if you're on a diet.

And it hurts in kinda a good way? Kinda, like wiggling a loose tooth when you're a kid...

The heart wants what it wants

I totally agree with you. My in-laws are always talking about how spicy they like their Indian takeaway food, and how they have to change their usual order when I'm dining with them. I'm just here thinking, "I don't like it when the food hurts my mouth when I'm eating it." Its as simple as that. If I can choose two versions of the same food, where one hurts my mouth and the other doesn't, I'm going with the non-painful one, thanks.

The one exception I make is Jalapenos. I love the taste of jalapenos. They are not very spicy on the whole scale of things, and the flavour they add to subway sandwiches and vegetarian pizzas is amazing. But that is unrelated to Indian food.

Pain = dolphins in my brain. (=

Hot=pain=endorphins= happiness

I'm with you on this

Some people go overboard with peppers that are all heat and no flavour; Those add nothing to the dish. Proper Thai or Indian with a mix of spice brings out the flavours, so its hot but also delicious. And it hits the mouth different. Like those hot pepper challenges arent food, they just burn all over lips mouth and throat, that should never a dining experience

Before refridgeration was developed, food rotting was a major problem in the hot, humid tropics. The solution was to poison the food with spice - it would be somewhat unpleasant to eat, but would kill pests. I suppose over the years we got used to it.

Fun fact: English has words for four basic tastes (sweet, salt, sour and bitter). Indian languages have a fifth basic taste - chilly or spicy.