When it comes to eating, there are two types of people in this world:
- Those who love spicy food
- Everyone else
“Love” might not even be the right word. It’s more of an obsession. “Chili heads”, as they’re often called, can’t get enough of food that lights their mouths on fire. They’d drink a volcano if they could.
For everyone else, it makes no sense. Spicy food isn’t food; it’s an investment in pain and something no sane person would ever order or cook and certainly never eat.
If you fall into either category, the following explanation of the science behind capsaicin spice should prove interesting. However, if you’re part of the group that would rather fall into a volcano than have one fall into your mouth, perhaps this article will make you appreciate spicy food just a bit more.
What Is Capsaicin Spice?
Capsaicin and spice are actually one in the same. They’re inseparable. Capsaicin is just the compound responsible for the effect. Whenever you feel your tongue perk up because of something spicy, that’s capsaicin doing its work.
The really interesting thing here is that spice really isn’t a taste. There is literally no taste involved. You don’t have any taste buds that can decipher spice in that sense.
How Your Brain Processes Capsaicin Spice
Instead, what we think of as a taste is really our brains thinking that we’ve put fire in our mouths.
When you eat capsaicin spice, it interacts with a specific kind of protein that’s found on the surface of your nerve cells. It’s known as TRPV1and its job is to deliver messages to the brain (e.g. “I think we just ate fire”).
Typically, TRPV1 is activated when it’s exposed to heat in the realm of 109˚F. Again, fire would be a good example. This kind of heat sets off a domino effect whereby nerve cell after nerve cell rushes the news to your brain with an urgency reserved for an actual emergency.
The message is clear: DANGER!
Of course, this is a very important task. If you really did stick fire in your mouth – or something equally hot – your brain would need to react right away or risk even worse damage.
In the case of eating capsaicin spice, though, the effect is the same. Even without the 109˚F temperature, the same nerve relay takes place. This is why spicy foods taste hot even if you eat a jalapeno pepper you just took out of the refrigerator.
Why Do People Like Capsaicin Spice?
Those who fall into the secondary category described at the beginning often ask this question. They sit and watch their friends go through wing after bright red wing, covered in the devil’s ketchup and can’t figure out what could possibly drive someone to such sadistic behavior.
The reason involves some of the natural framework we just described. Basically, when the message gets to the brain about the bonfire in the mouth, the brain responds by releasing a chemical we call endorphins. These are the natural complement to substance P, the pain signal the tongue produces as a message.
You’ve probably heard of endorphins before. They are basically our body’s pleasure drug, your own personal supply of opioids. These neuropeptides hinder the transmission of pain signals and produce an overall sensation of euphoria.
Whereas drugs like tobacco and marijuana produce serotonin, which is associated with emotional stability, endorphins are the organic drugs triggered by synthetic counterparts like heroin and alcohol. These huge doses of endorphins make people more affectionate, reduce their pain and just make them feel really great all around.
See where this is going?
Although Buffalo wings won’t make you as high as heroin, they do go on to produce a mild form of euphoria. Many people have likened it to a runner’s high.
Now, on top of all that, capsaicin spice also makes the brain release dopamine, which is another organic chemical linked to the body’s reward system.
This furthers the pleasure received by chomping into something that makes your brain think you’re eating fire.
Evolving to Eat Spicy Food
In some parts of the world, it might even be simpler than that. Wherever peppers grow, you’ll find people who have been munching on them for millennia. As it turns out, though, this might have nothing to do with a spicy euphoria.
Instead, these people rely on chilies because they slowed microbial growth or even stopped it outright. In a time before refrigerators, the capsaicin in peppers was required to keep food fresh as it often sat out for extended periods of time.
This helps explain why the proliferation of hot foods is found in hot environments. People in Norway, Russia and Canada didn’t have to worry about their food staying fresh as much, especially during the winter.
However, in Mexico, India and other places closer to the equator, this was a pressing concern. Hence, there are fiery Tamales in Mexico and a huge selection of hot curries served all over India. These are only two examples.
While taste may have brought people to love peppers, it would have become clear soon enough that those who were capable of withstanding the heat also lived longer, healthier lives, too.
Chilies Can Help Win the Mental War Against Weight Gain
Finally, the moment capsaicin spice begins working in your body, you go into a version of fight-or-flight. Again, this goes back to your brain thinking you’re in danger.
As a result, your brain sends out the orders: burn through our stores of fat in order to meet this danger head-on.
Drug companies are even working on capsaicin-based supplements that will optimize this effect even more.
Given the many benefits of capsaicin spice, are those of you who have avoided spicy foods ready to change your tune? As you just read, if you make it through the burning sensations, your brain will repay you with all kinds of enjoyable mental drugs.
If nothing else, though, hopefully, the above makes clear why about a quarter of the planet’s population makes room on their plates for peppers every single day.