I just had lunch with a chilehead friend at a good little Vietnamese place, and noticed he was pretty much staying away from the heat except for a little sriracha on some excellent crab rangoon (that's a heavenly combo, by the way). This surprised me, so I asked what was up. He is having to avoid much in the way of hot stuff now, he says; he's diabetic and has been through nephritis three times, but even when he's well, he says he now gets a very unpleasant burning sensation deep in his back, right at kidney level, when he eats much hot stuff. x Anybody know if this is in fact likely to be kidney pain, or ever heard of someone (diabetes/hx. of nephritis or not) getting kidney pain from chiles? We aren't talking eating Savinas like candy here; he likes to mix up a fairly hot sauce out of a combo of Dave's and something milder but tastier, and use it fairly generously, but he's never been really over-the-top in his chileheadedness. x Anyway, I told him I'd ask. (He may be subscribing here soon, too.) x Keep on rockin', Rain @@@@ \\\\\