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Men Who Love Spicy Food Have More Testosterone

2 minute read
Food-YE-Food
Sriracha chili sauce bottles are produced at the Huy Fong Foods factory in Irwindale, Calif.Nick Ut—AP
By Denver Nicks

Men with higher levels of testosterone—the hormone often associated with risk-taking behavior and heightened sex drive in men—tend to love spicy food, according to a French study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior.

In the study, titled “Some Like it Hot” and conducted by researchers from the University of Grenoble-Alpes in France, 114 men ages 18 to 44 sat down to a meal of mashed potatoes with spicy pepper sauce and salt. Researchers saw a clear correlation between higher hot sauce usage and higher levels of testosterone levels found in the saliva of the men. In other words, men with greater testosterone levels tended to douse their food with more hot sauce.

How much capsaicin—the chili pepper compound that makes them spicy—a man likes has been linked to social dominance, aggression and “daring behaviors,” the study authors write. “Conversely, low testosterone levels have been associated with lethargy or depressive mood.”

Though the hot sauce correlation was clear, the mechanism behind it is still unknown. “A wide range of factors, including genetic, physiological, psychological and social forces, influence the liking and consumption of capsaicin-containing food,” the study authors write.

Photos: An Inside Look at a Sriracha Factory

Chilies are ground in a mixing machine.
Jalapeno peppers, grown in nearby Ventura County, are crushed inside the Huy Fong Foods factory in Irwindale, Calif.Peter Bohler for TIME
Lids for Sriracha bottles flow into a large container.
Sriracha sauce is bottled on site and topped with distinctive bright green caps.Peter Bohler for TIME
The bottles for Sriracha are made and printed on site. Here, new bottles come off the conveyer belt.
Sriracha’s trademarked look includes clear bottles printed with white text.Peter Bohler for TIME
A forklift moves barrels of chili around the warehouse where they are stored until needed for processing into Sriracha, Chili Garlic and Sambal Olek—ground chilis with no added ingredients.
A forklift moves barrels of crushed chilies stores in the on-site warehouse.Peter Bohler for TIME
Uncapped barrels of chili are pumped into the mixing room.
Crushed chilies are eventually mixed with sugar, salt, garlic and vinegar to make Sriracha.Peter Bohler for TIME
Sugar and powdered garlic are added to the mixture, which is ground again into Sriracha.
Sugar and powdered garlic are added to the mixture, which is ground again into Sriracha.Peter Bohler for TIME
Bottles of Sriracha being filled. When CEO and founder David Tran started making chili sauce in Vietnam, he and his family hand-filled bottles with spoons.
Bottles of Sriracha being filled. When CEO and founder David Tran started making chili sauce in Vietnam, he and his family hand-filled bottles with spoons. Peter Bohler for TIME
Filled and capped bottles of Sriracha come off the assembly line and are organized for boxing.
Filled and capped bottles of Sriracha move along an assembly line on their way to be boxed and shipped.Peter Bohler for TIME
A machine boxes Sriracha for shipping.
A machine boxes Sriracha bottles that will end up in restaurants and on grocery store shelves.Peter Bohler for TIME
A worker adds steel supports to a pallet of barrels. The supports allow Huy Fong to stack the barrels on top of each other without the weight of the chili crushing the barrels.
A worker adds steel supports to a pallet of barrels. The supports allow Huy Fong Foods to stack chili-filled barrels five layers high. Peter Bohler for TIME

Read next: 3 Reasons You Should Eat More Spicy Food

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