“The Michael Phelps of spicy food”: The genetic ‘cheat code’ for winning hot pepper-eating contests
In a viral post on Reddit, an internet user revealed they’ve been accused of cheating in a spicy food-eating competition.
A Reddit contributor says they’ve been accused of cheating after victory in an eating contest - but fellow users of the social-media platform have leapt to the individual’s defense.
Indeed, Redditers have likened the poster’s prize-winning guzzling abilities to those boasted by some of history’s greatest athletes.
In a viral post last week on the Reddit discussion forum “AITAH” - which stands for “Am I the Asshole?” - the user revealed they recently won a hot pepper-eating competition, earning “a bunch of coupons for free [chicken] wings” at a local restaurant.
The Redditer, known only as Appropriate_Fix2214, explained that their triumph was, in no small measure, thanks to their unusual ability to withstand a key component of chilli peppers’ spicy flavor.
“Spice tolerance levels are waaaaay higher”
“I have a weird genetic quirk where my body doesn’t register capsaicin normally, so my spice tolerance levels are waaaaay higher than normal,” the poster said.
“So, I entered the competition and won the coupons, but my friends are now telling me that I cheated and I should have let ‘normal’ people compete and get the wings. So, Reddit, AITA for competing?”
The verdict from fellow Redditers appears unanimous: Appropriate_Fix2214 is categorically not the asshole (NTAH).
“I applaud you”
“Look man, all I’m hearing is that you got a mutant superpower and are using it correctly,” replied one user.
Several other Redditers compared the wings winner’s spice tolerance to the natural physical traits that helped the Olympics’ most decorated athlete to win 23 swimming gold medals across five Summer Games.
“You are the […] Michael Phelps of spicy food, I applaud you,” one Redditer said. Another agreed that claims of cheating are “like saying Phelps shouldn’t be allowed to swim because his wingspan is much larger than normal swimmers”.
“Your friends are idiots”
A further Redditer likened Appropriate_Fix2214’s genetic variation to the innate talents of legendary basketball stars, writing: “Should Michael Jordan or Lebron [James] or Shaq [O’Neal] have left the NBA for the normies? Your friends are idiots.”
A second hoops fan added: “It’s like telling a guy who’s 7 feet tall not to enter a basketball dunking competition so guys under 6 feet can have a fair chance.”
Meanwhile, several Reddit users were reminded of a 1997 episode of the animated sitcom The Simpsons - season eight’s “The Mysterious Voyage of Homer” - in which a spicy eating contest does witness foul play.
“If you pulled a Homer Simpson and coated your throat with candle wax = cheating,” one Redditer told Appropriate_Fix2214. “What you did = not cheating.”
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