Teen who ate spicy tortilla chip died of high chile consumption and had a heart defect, autopsy says

It being dangerous is extremely rare, and the extreme heat can give a pretty big endorphin rush.

You build a tolerance to the heat as you eat more and more spicy food.

After a certain level of heat there is no more flavor, just spice...

Again, your tolerance is what dictates the accuracy of this statement. I think Paqui chips taste terrible, the spice level has nothing to do with it. But, as the other commenter mentioned, you pursue this level of heat because you enjoy the rush it gives you. If you can handle the spice of super hot foods, you either need a ton of peppers (which just makes your good taste like peppers), or you need something insanely hot to add, so you can maintain the food's good flavor, while also having a satisfying level of heat.

The draw is the rush.

As someone who loves super spicy foods:

Heat doesn’t alter flavor. Capsaicin itself is flavorless, so if you just take a food and add capsaicin extract, it’ll increase the heat without changing flavor.

However, IMO there’s no point in doing that unless you’re trying to win a challenge. Most of us get capsaicin from peppers, and each pepper has a unique flavor that can add a lot of nuance to a dish.

Plus, I enjoy the heat sensation and am highly tolerant, so I can eat high heat foods and enjoy them. I would not recommend a spice-naive person start out on super hots.

I ate the hottest level they had at Quaker steak and lube one time. I was laughing and crying at the same time while bouncing around in my seat. It had a bit of an endorphin rush, but also hurt heh Edit: got my free shirt though! Still have it I think. All about the swag baby

Because you get used to it and what was super hot a few months ago is just a little tingly today. So over time you eat hotter and hotter stuff.

I love super spicy sauces because I can add a few drops to food to make it spicy without altering the flavor. I used to eat super spicy for the fun of it but my stomach hates me now, so I've had to tone back.

The endorphin rush plus some really hot stuff is really tasty

I love spicy food, but as you said, only to a degree. The "spicy" part of the equation consists of both taste and the influence on your mouth's temperature sensors. If the latter is hyperactive due to capsacain flavor goes out the window, at which point the food is no longer palatable to me.

(Gonna get downvoted here, but hear me out here,)

Capsaicin isn’t a spice*. It’s not even a flavonoid. That is to say, it doesn’t trigger or act against the taste receptors in your tongue.

What the stuff does is trigger the heat receptors in your mouth (and skin and everywhere else you have heat receptors.) causing your body to feel like it’s burning.

“Spiciness” is what happens when your flavor receptors get overloaded. If you want to experience it, go get fresh garlic and chew a raw whole clove. (Do NOT swallow. And be prepared for massive indigestion. Raw garlic is not to be trifled with.) or maybe take the cinnamon challenge (spoonful, hold it in your mouth. Do not swallow,)

In any case capsaicin itself causes happy-hormones to be released, as a result of the sensation of being burned through. (The sensation also causes increased heart rate and that can get excessive, too.)(the people that like super-hot peppers are masochists.)

(*Spices are technically parts of plants used for flavor that generally aren’t the leaves. So the pepper itself can be a spice, don’t get me wrong. Most are quite fruity. The vast majority of people are not using hot peppers for that fruitiness, though.)

I just find it fun. And super hot sauces don't have to be devoid of flavor. There's truly a lot of options when it comes to hot sauces. I have a rack specifically for super hot sauce bottles, lol.

My wife got me these really nice pepper flake blends from Flatiron for the holidays a few years ago and it was a fantastic gift. It included 5 different blends ranging from about 10,000 Scoville to about... 750,000K. It's painful. Straight up. I can't say it isn't an unpleasant sensation. It's just fun. Like I'll be chuckling to myself while wheezing from the overwhelming heat.

There's a Carolina Reaper version of Blue Almond almonds that I love. Super spicy. And low carb. Unfortunately I think they discontinued them because there isn't a huge market for superhot enjoyers.