It’s really weird, but as I’ve aged spicy food has really begun to bother me. I absolutely LOVE how it tastes in my mouth—even the hottest levels of heat are enjoyable to me.
I’d say around the age of 25 it started bothering me some. Then it got worse as I approached 30. Now in my early 30s I can hardly eat anything that’s above “mild” without GI distress several hours later. I’m talking about a horrible burning sensation in my abdomen where it feels as though I can actually track the food moving through my GI tract. The next day I feel ill enough on the toilet that I have to make sure I don’t have plans for the first 1-2 hours of my day.
It’s super sad because I love spicy food, but it’s not worth the payback. I myself work in healthcare and I’ve searched and searched for something that can physiologically explain that phenomenon (getting worse over the years) and there’s not really anything explained in the literature. All I can think of is something to do with changes in GI flora.
Yes, it’s an age thing. Even a few years ago I was impressing my asian colleagues with how much I can take, and regularly ate ghost chili and carolina reapers for fun with friends.
Now at 35, had/have some problems down there, and the doctor told me to lay off spicy food, as I had a minor inflammation of my colon.
Same conclusion as you, I love it, but it’s just not worth it. Good news though: I heard that it’s really just a tolerance building thing, so if I stay off really spicy foods for a while, then I should be able to enjoy light spices later.
