I sat down to blog about 2 hours ago and while I was thinking of something to write about, which was obviously going to be food, I got hungry. With summer school finals and moving out of my apartment falling in the same week, I’ve neglected to go grocery shopping in quite a while. So a few hours ago when I needed food, I made one of my college girl staples: stir fry.
All I had in my kitchen was a can of black beans, frozen stir fry veggies, and a cupboard full of spices. I sautéed the veggies with a little PAM until they were caramelized and then threw in chili powder, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. It was the best thing I’ve eaten in a while, and the only calories came from the veggies at 30 calories per cup and the beans at about 100. It was a spicy, yummy, low-cal treat for a poor person like me.
I love spicy food. As I dumped chili powder and red pepper flakes into my pan, I wondered if eating spicy food was going to damage my taste buds and as a result, ruin my chances of being a good food critic. After all, how can you critique foods for a living if you can’t taste anything?
After about an hour and a half of research, I am relieved to say that eating spicy foods does not ruin your taste buds. It only numbs them for a short period of time. Furthermore, if you do happen to damage your taste buds either through smoking cigarettes or burning your tongue, it isn’t permanent because taste buds renew themselves after time. The only bad part about taste bud renewal, is that is slows down with age. Fascinating.
Well lucky me I guess. I’m still on the right track to eating for a career. Thank Goodness!
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Excellent scholarship!
ReplyDeleteA few minutes ago my girlfriend casually asked me whether spicy food can damage my taste buds. It seemed eerily plausible... and I was frightened!
But thanks to your blog and some additional research of my own, I can happily say that I am as relieved as you are.