Getting Your Body Ready for a Spicy Feast

The experience of eating spicy foods is an adventure, a challenge to the palate, a test of courage and a form of art. Most of the time, it combines pleasure and pain as you enjoy the zesty flavors while also enduring the painful sensations that the spicy food can cause in your mouth and your stomach.

The next time you embark on a spicy feast, whether you are joining a jalapeno-eating contest or attending some spicy food festivals with friends, you might want to get your body better prepared for the experience by doing some preliminary procedures.

Don’t Start with an Empty Stomach.

It’s not a good idea to devour extremely spicy food when you haven’t had anything else to eat beforehand. Protect your stomach from the inevitable burn by eating a light meal before your spicy foods adventure. A slice of toast or half a banana will do.

Prepare Yourself Mentally

If you know exactly what it is you are going to eat, you will be mentally prepared for the heat intensity that you will experience. More importantly, you will be able to determine ahead of time whether you are capable of taking in that level of heat or not. Surprises can be nice at times but when it involves biting into a ghost pepper that you didn’t know would be there, it won’t be much fun.

Condition Your Taste Buds

This is something that you should have been doing long before the day of your spicy adventure. It takes time to prepare the palate for an infusion of heat intensive food. If you are already used to eating spicy foods, then taking it up a notch for a special event probably will not bother you too much.

Take Medications

This might be an extreme measure to take but some people find it helpful to take antacids before eating spicy foods. Antacids can prevent acid reflux and heartburn so if you are prone to these conditions, this method could be a good idea.

Remember that if your body is prepared, you will be able to enjoy the hot and spicy gastronomic experience so much more.