If you love spicy food, but get a bit out of hand and have a little more heat on your lips and in your mouth than you realize, you need to neutralize it quickly. Anyone who has been around spicy food for any length of time knows that the best way to do this is to have a nice glass of milk handy. Have you ever thought about why milk works, or what the capsaicin is doing to your mouth in the first place? Read on to learn more to see why milk will neutralize spicy foods.
What Does Capsaicin Do?
When the spicy food hits your mouth, the capsaicin in the peppers start to go to work. They cause the receptors in the mouth to send signals to the brain that things are getting hot and painful and that something needs to happen. The body will usually react by flushing and then by causing you to sweat. This is starting to help the body cool down.
However, the tongue and mouth are still burning, and this means that it is time to take a swig of some of that milk that you hopefully have handy.
How Does the Milk Work?
The chemical makeup of the capsaicin means that it will bond well with the lipoprotein receptors on the tongue. Milk works to neutralize spicy foods because it has a large amount of fat in it, and this will bond with the capsaicin and remove it from the mouth and tongue. A good analogy is that it works like soap on grease. It really is that simple, and having some milk around when you are eating spicy food can help immensely.
Of course, there are some peppers out there that are so hot the milk will not help you as much as you might want it to. When you are eating food that is extremely spicy, be prepared to go slow and only eat a small amount, or perhaps get ready to buy a cow.
Why Not Water?
When people want to cool off their mouth from something spicy, they will often reach for water, even though they should know better if they’ve ever had anything spicy in their life before. The water is not going to help at all. This is because the capsaicin will not dissolve in the water. It needs to be mammal’s milk.
What About Coconut Milk?
You might not like the taste of milk, or maybe you do not have any regular milk handy. You might think that you can just grab some chic coconut milk instead. However, that is not going to work. It will be about as effective as the water since there is no casein in it.
Now that you have a better idea of why milk can neutralize spicy foods, you will know that you should probably have some handy if you have trouble with spicy foods or you are feeling adventurous and want to try a food that is extra spicy.