Wine and spicy chicken wings, beer and meatballs spiked with red chilli paste, whisky and Jamaican jerk chicken – these combinations may sound like a joyous late night symphony to many. Spicy and nice-y, but if you are salivating at the thought of it, chances are, you might be more prone to alcohol problems.
A study conducted by South Korea’s Busan National University explains why spicy food lovers are more likely to suffer from alcoholism.
Both alcohol and spicy food stimulate the same part of the brain, triggering the release of pleasure-sensing endorphins
The receptors in the brain connected to the opioid (or reward) system can be triggered by the consumption of alcohol. The same receptors can be triggered when people eat really spicy food. Both alcohol and spicy food work on the same region of the brain, releasing pleasure-sensing endorphins.
The fact that spicy food activates the same receptors as alcohol in the brain, makes spicy food lovers more vulnerable to alcohol addiction
Since the opioid system is easily activated by spicy food, in the case of people who love their food hot and burning, they can easily give way to alcohol to get the same kick out of it.
The research also says, anti-alcohol-addiction drugs like Naltrexone could be extremely beneficial to people who love spicy food.
Naltrexone is an anti-addiction drug that stops people from experiencing pleasant sensations while they are drinking and curbing addiction in the long run. But studies showed that spicy food lovers resisted alcohol urges more than people who stayed off spicy foods by using Naltrexone.