There are people that love hot food; they are usually referred to as chili heads.  Chili heads are people that seek out the hottest foods on the planet which are usually made from peppers.  Peppers contain capsaisin which is the ingredient that causes the mouth to feel a burning sensation.

The burning sensation may physically hurt, but it has another unintended consequence, it releases neurotransmitters called endorphins that make the body experience a natural high. Many people enjoy natural highs, either from running, boxing or eating hot foods.

Hot sauces are a great way to experience hot foods.  Many of today’s hot sauces are extremely hot, much hotter than the Tabasco sauce of chili peppers of the past.  Hot sauce is rated by Scoville Units.  Scoville units measure the amount of heat in a hot sauce.  For instance Tabasco sauce has about 2,000 Scoville Unites.  Today you can find hot sauces easily with 80,000 Scoville Units.  While these sauces are so hot that you usually need to sign a waiver form to buy them.  However there are other more practical hot sauces that come in at about 8 or 10,000 Scoville Units.  You can usually find them at auction sites, web sites and gourmet food shops. If you are looking for a gastronomical experience, look into extreme hot sauces.