Monday 2 February 2015

Men who enjoy spicy food have higher testosterone levels | Daily Mail Online

Men who enjoy spicy food have higher testosterone levels | Daily Mail Online

Why liking hot curries really does make you the alpha male: Men who enjoy spicy food have higher testosterone levels

  • Researchers from the University of Grenoble compared the hormone levels of 114 men
    to the amount of chilli sauce they added to mashed potato
  • Those with highest testosterone were found to add more chilli to their food
  • Chilli peppers have also been found to increase testosterone levels in rats
  • Testosterone is known to increase risk taking behaviour and could explain why men
    with higher levels seek out hotter food to prove themselves


It is a scene repeated in curry houses around the world - male customers
trying to prove their manhood by eating the hottest curry on the menu.
But now is seems this rite of manliness may actually be based on scientific
fact after researchers have shown that only real men go for the
spiciest food. Physiologists at the University of Grenoble, in France, have found that men with a  taste for spicy foods tend to have higher levels of the hormone testosterone.
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Eating a beef vindaloo while out for a meal may do more than make you sweat - it can prove that you have higher testosterone levels, according to the research by scientists at the University of Grenoble
Eating a beef vindaloo while out for a
meal may do more than make you sweat - it can prove that you have
higher testosterone levels, according to the research by scientists at
the University of Grenoble
Testosterone is known to make men more adventurous, aggressive and sexually active.
Those with the highest levels tend to be more dominant, or the alpha
male, of a group.
The researchers believe that by eating hot curries, men may also be
boosting their hormone levels as chili peppers have been shown to
increase testosterone levels in rats.

Professor Laurent Begue, who led the study, said: 'We demonstrated a positive
correlation between salivary testosterone and the quantity of hot sauce
male participants voluntarily and spontaneously consumed with a male.
'Additionally testosterone levels correlated with participants' perceptions of the
spiciness of their meal after a tasting task.
'This study provides new insights into the biology of food preference by
expanding our understanding of the link between hormonal processes and
food intake.'
The chemical in chilli peppers that creates heat is called capsaicin and
binds with the pain receptor to produce the characteristic burning
sensation.
This is known to cause physiological changes in the body, raising the heart
rate, increasing perspiration and releasing endorphins and adrenalin.
It is this that produces the uncontrollable sweating that can sometimes
accompany eating really hot food but some research has also shown it can
trigger the release of hormones involved in happiness.
The researchers involved in the lastest study, which is published in the
journal Physiology and Behavior, tested 114 men between the ages of 18
and 44 from from Grenoble after advertising for participants to take
part in food tasting panel for a food research company.
They were asked to indicate their preferences regarding spicy food and had the levels of testosterone in their saliva measured.
They were then asked to season a sample of mashed potatoes with Tabasco hot
pepper sauce and salt before then evaluate the spiciness of the meal.
The researchers found that those with higher levels of testosterone tended
to put more chili sauce on their potato while there did not seem to be
any correlation with salt.
Professor Begue said it could be that the higher levels of testosterone are
leading men to seek thrills and take risks by eating hotter food.
Previous research in rats has shown that eating chili may also increase levels
of testosterone, particularly if they consumed a regular diet containing
capsaicin during adolescence.
Writing in their paper, titled 'Some like it Hot', Professor Begue and his
colleagues said that further research would be needed to see if a
preference for spicy food produced similar changes in humans.
Heat in chilis is measured using the Scoville heat unit scale, with the hottest known rated at 2.2 million SHU
They said: 'To our knowledge, this is the first study in which a behavioural
preference for spicy food has been linked to endogenous testosterone.
'Future administration studies will be necessary to evaluate the causal
relationship between elevated testosterone and preference for spicy
foods.'
There are several restaurants around the globe that lay claim to serve the hottest curry in the world.
The Bindi restaurant in Grantham, Lincolnshire, sells a dish it calls the
Bindi, which is made with 20 Naga Infinity Chilis, the second hottest on
the planet.
The fumes it produces are so potent that it needs to be prepared by chefs
wearing facemasks and the curry has been rated at more than six million
units on the Scoville Scale.
The Crocodile Inferno at the Dilshad restaurant in Cannock is so hot it is reputed to cause halicinations in those that eat it.
It contains the Ghost chili pepper, The Trinidad scorpion Butch T. chili pepper and the Carolina Reaper.
Brick Lane Curry House in New York serves the Phaal curry, which is around
200 times hotter than Tobasco sauce and is rated at 1 million units on
the Scoville scale. 
While the effect of hot peppers on women is still to be tested, testosterone
does also play an important role in the female body, so it may also
affect them.
The latest findings may also lead to an ever more competitive edge to in
curry houses as men attempt to show off their virility and manliness. 
However, it could also just lead to a lot more indigestion.

Women on the pill have more to worry about than fancying their partner | Holly Grigg-Spall | Comment is free | The Guardian

Women on the pill have more to worry about than fancying their partner | Holly Grigg-Spall | Comment is free | The Guardian



always been deeply sceptical about the female contraceptive pill, de-feminising etc - this article highlights a whole cluster of issues

A recent study is here to tell you that your birth control, as Elle magazine so eloquently put it, might be making your boyfriend ugly. More specifically, the science suggests that
a woman taking the pill when she meets her boyfriend might find him
less attractive when she stops taking it, especially if he wasn’t all
that hot to begin with.

This is the latest in a long line of statistical speculations as to
how oral contraceptives might skew male-female relations. Other studies
have concluded that pill-taking women like less masculine men or that men are attracted to women who are ovulating.
When we take the pill our sex hormones are suppressed and replaced
with synthetic versions, released in a steady stream.subject to panic
attacks, depression, fatigue and chronic health issues?
Our hormones affect 150 of our essential bodily functions, and their fluctuations over time are inextricably linked to the biological systems that control our energy levels, memory, brain waves, vitamin retention, metabolism, the acuity of our senses and more. When we discuss biological compatibility, what we are really talking about is the connection between our hormones and our immune system, the source of the drive to date certain men over others. We’re also talking about how hormones help us navigate the exterior world, in part through our senses, and align our experiences with our internal world.