The answer is yes – to some degree. Dr. Paul Rozen, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania has studied this phenomenon and found that when people eat hot food, their brains secrete endorphins, a substance that blocks pain (should we spell it Jalapaino). The effects are similar to those athletes experience when they get their "second wind". The sense of well being attained from eating massive amounts of chile peppers is what keeps them coming back for more. This "rush" also heightens a person’s awareness and tends to take their minds off unpleasant thoughts. Other substances, such as alcohol, tobacco, and coffee also do this, but have longer effects.

Another reason chile peppers can become habit forming is because of the flavor intensity they add to food. Once you are used to it; you’re hooked, and afterward food can seem very bland without it.

Chile peppers appeal to a person’s sense of adventure, and the mesmerizing visual allure of their vibrant colors and shapes, along with the hot surprise they hold inside, make them a dangerous but exciting vegetable. People like chile peppers for the same reasons they enjoy roller coasters, fast cars, and their memberships in The Polar Bear Club, because hot foods push a person’s tolerance for pain to the limit, without there being any real danger.

A person addicted to hot and spicy foods may be referred to as a chile-head. If you have hot sauce stashed in your car or have a Jalapeno in your pocket, you may be a chile-head. But don’t worry, it is a very nutritious and beneficial addiction that is not a sin or against the law, and not even heavily taxed! What else can you say that about?

In an article written by Stu Burns called “The Confessions of a Chile-head,” he suggests that the addict's loved ones, employers, clergymen, accountants, spouses, chefs, and social workers (not necessarily in that order) should be on the lookout for the following suspicious behavior by the CAP (Chile-Addicted Personality) who exhibits the classic symptoms of PAS (Pungency Addiction Syndrome).

1. Complains constantly about the blandness of foods.
2. Hides his empty cans of serranos en escabeche under the sofa.
3. Carries a flask of pepper vodka and a bottle of Tabasco on the person.
4. Prepares dinners so hot that the guests cannot eat them and the CAP gets it all.
5. Has a garden that produces more pounds of chiles than tomatoes.
6. Smokes dried pepper leaves instead of tobacco.
7. Takes vacations only in the Southwest U.S. and Hunan, China.
8. (Tie) Snorts chile powder through a straw, or worse yet, "free-bastes."