THE SCIENCE OF SPICINESS

 

Why does your mouth feel like its on fire when you eat a spicy pepper? And how do you soothe the burn? Why does wasabi make your eyes water? And how spicy is the spiciest spice?  Lets back up a bit.

First, what is spiciness?  Even though we often say that something tastes spicy, its not actually a taste, like sweet or salty or sour. Instead, whats really happening is that certain compounds in spicy foods activate the type of sensory neurons called polymodal nociceptors.

You have these all over your body, including your mouth and nose, and they are the same receptors that are activated by extreme heat. So when you eat a chili pepper, your mouth feels like its burning because your brain actually thinks its burning.

The opposite happens when you eat something  with menthol in it. The cool, minty compound is activating your cold receptors. When these heat sensitive receptors are activated, your body thinks its in contact with a dangerous heat source and reacts accordingly.

This is why you start to sweat, and your heart starts beating faster. The peppers have elicited the same fight or flight response with which your body reacts to most threats. But you may have noticed that not all spicy foods are spicy in the same way.

And the difference lies in the types of compounds involved. The capsaicin and piperine, found in black pepper and chili peppers, are made up of larger, heavier molecules called alkylamides, and those mostly stay in your mouth.

Mustard, horseradish and wasabi are made up of smaller molecules, called isothiocyanates, that easily float up into your sinuses. This is why chili peppers burn your mouth, and wasabi burns your nose. The standard measure of a food's spiciness is its rating on the scoville scale, which measures how much its capsaicin content can be diluted before the heat is no longer detectable to humans.

A sweet bell pepper gets 0 scoville heat units, while Tabasco sauce clocks in between 1200-2400 units. The race to create the hottest pepper is a constant battle, but two peppers generally come out on top: 

The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion  lined with charred fish and meat, also contained mustard. One theory says that humans starting adding spices to food to kill off bacteria. And some studies show that spice developed  mostly in warmer climates where microbes also happen to be more prevalent.

But why we continue to subject ourselves to spicy food today is still a bit of a mystery. For some people eating spicy food is like riding rollercoasters they enjoy the ensuing thrill, even if the immediate sensation is unpleasant.

Some studies have even shown that those who like to eat hot stuff are more likely to enjoy other adrenaline rich activities, like gambling. The taste for spicy food may even be genetic. And if you are thinking about training a bit, to up your tolerance for spice, know this: 

According to some studies, the pain doesn't get any better. You just get tougher. In fact researches have found that people who like to eat spicy foods dont rate the burn any less painful than those who dont.

They just seem to like the pain more. So, torment your heat receptors all you want, but remember when it comes to spicy food,  you are going to get burned.