Hot Stuff

First of all, for all those dirty minds who came here to read some “Hot Stuff”, this ain’t what you think it is. The rest of you, let’s continue.
Every spice/flavour has its own taste. Sweet, sour, bitter, and salty are all different flavours. They all have taste buds on the tongue that detect each flavour and that’s the end of it. What about when you eat something spicy? It feels more than just a flavour. Spicy food (especially peppers/chillies) make us feel hot. But why?

Why Do Chili Peppers Taste Hot?

Chillies contain chemical compounds called Capsaicin (Woah! Alliteration! Just kidding). Capsaicin is a protective feature of chili plants.
As opposed to animals and other life forms that can run away from danger, plants tend to be stuck at one place for lifetime. Thus, some plants come up with weird mechanisms that help them scare away animals trying to eat them. Many plants resort to chemical warfare, including chilli.

Capsaicin triggers the pain receptors in the mouth, nose and skin. These pain receptors are generally activated by the presence of heat. The chemical also inflames the mucus layering of the nose. The receptors when activated start a number of temperature regulatory systems in our bodies. The nose begins to produce more mucus to remove the supposedly “hot irritant” in the nose. This leads to a runny nose. The whole body begins to sweat to cool down. Blood vessels in the skin and face begin dilating to help cool off. The dilating blood vessels and capillaries give the impression of redness.

The Capsaicin then moves further down, into the food pipe (oesophagus). Here it binds to receptors that give the sensation of a heartburn. Some people even experience diarrhea as a result of (generally extreme) chilli consumption. This is another safety system in our body to get the irritant out of the body as soon as possible.

Even after knowing all this and experiencing most of this during a typical chilli eating session, why do we still eat chilli? Je suis dans le brouillard.