Why Do Skiers Consume Hot Sauce?
There’s a science behind why skiers—and other athletes—are obsessed with hot sauce. If you’re a winter sports fan, or an avid skier yourself, you might well be aware that downhill skiers have a bizarre habit for consuming hot sauce—and oddly, they are not alone. Consuming hot sauce is a habit that skiers and snowboarders now share with devotees of several other adrenaline-pumping and physically demanding sports and pursuits, including mountain bikers and even power lifters. But where has the curious habit come from?
Consumption of hot sauce helps in preparation for their activity. Perhaps the simplest explanation for why hot sauce has become such a hot topic among skiers is that consuming spicy foods can give us a similar thrill-seeking release of adrenaline and other hormones as is experienced during high-intensity sports, just like skiing and mountain biking. That’s not to say that skiers eat—and even drink—hot sauce just to get a cheap thrill, though. This rush of endorphins produces a natural fight-or-flight-like response in our bodies, which heightens our senses and readies our bodies for action by raising our heart rate and oxygen levels, thereby increasing physical endurance, and making us better prepared to perform in stressful, threatening, or pressurized circumstances. And in downhill skiing—in which a skier is often forced to make spur-of-the-moment decisions in response to their surroundings—it’s easy to understand why such a mentally and physically heightened state of readiness from ingestion of hot sauce could prove beneficial.
There are other positives to this fondness for hot sauce besides just body chemistry. Hot sauces are naturally thermogenic, meaning that they have the ability to raise our internal body temperature. Again, this would have an obviously positive effect in the icy environment of a snow-covered mountainside, and act as a cheap and simple source of internal heat, to see off the worst of the freezing conditions.
Hot sauce also contains capsaicin (the chemical that naturally gives chili peppers their heat), which has long been known to have pain-relieving properties and is even used in healing salves and ointments to ease aching joints and muscles. Consuming hot sauce might also help to ease any bumps, knocks, or injuries endured while skiing, or ease any post-ski inflammation in our knees and other joints.
But there is also a more practical explanation to consume hot sauce while skiing. Ski resorts are understandably often located in high-altitude locations—but altitude has long been known to have a negative effect on our sense of taste, with the drier atmosphere and lowered air pressure conspiring to reduce the sensitivity of our taste buds. Dowsing your après-cold weather or high-altitude snack with hot sauce is a simple way of enhancing flavors in an environment that is not conducive to consuming flavorful food.