[CH] Spicy Foods and Tropic climates

Signe Shivers (sshivers@execpc.com)
Sun, 06 Sep 1998 22:15:39 -0500

Ok - I know this has been an ongoing argument - Why does it seem that
Equatorial cultures use spicy foods more than the Glacial Europeans (As
my husband is prone to call that ilk)

Here's a hypothesis I have not yet seen in print (maybe there's a reason
for that, maybe not) I once read that the Inuit (Eskimoes) don't sweat
as readily as most people. The reason being that to sweat  could be
deadly if you cool down later  - then the moisture would contribute to
hypothermia. So maybe the northern cultures didn't take to hot foods
because it would cause them to sweat and while schussing home (that's a
form of skiiing) they could freeze to death.

Signe Knutson "Yes I'm a Norskie" Shivers