You’ve had this before (show jalapeno).
You know that mouth on fire experience.
The sweat, the tears, the pain.
All from something so little and friendly looking.
So what is it about one of these little guys that
can bring a person to tears?
Well it all comes down to chemistry.
[SPLASH INTRO]
We’re going to cut to the chase.
It’s capsaicin.
Capsaicin is a colorless, odorless
substance most heavily concentrated around the tissue of a pepper that
gives you that mouth on fire feeling when eating something spicy.
Capsaicin is not hot.
That’s right.
Hot peppers are not hot, at least
not of a thermal persuasion.
We just perceive them as being hot.
So maybe they are hot...we’ll save
that debate for a philosophy video.
Anyway, capsaicin in hot peppers or spicy foods binds to TRPV1 receptors
that live in your mouth and in other tissues in your body.
Among other things, this pain receptor detects HOT substances like boiling
water or piping hot food as well as acidic and some bitter substances
that could cause damage to our.
But capsaicin molecules fit into TRPV1 receptors.
So when eating a jalapeno or something with capsaicin in it,
the capsaicin binds to the TRPV1 receptors of neurons in our mouth,
which send neural signal to our brain telling us we’re
eating something that we shouldn’t be.
The capsaicin is perceived as pain causing our brain to send chemical
signals to our body to get this out of our system ASAP.
This is why when we eat something spicy our noses start running,
tears stream from our eyes and
we want to drink something cold.
Our body is doing everything it can
to get this substance OUT or at least to squelch the heat we’re perceiving.
The higher the amount of capsaicin in a pepper, the more there is to bind
to your TRPV1 receptors and the more
intense your reaction is to that pepper.
This is measured on the Scoville scale.
Say you just bit into a ghost pepper.
The capsaicin binds to TRPV1 receptors all over your mouth
and you feel like you’re on fire.
Everyone is telling you to reach for milk to alleviate
this hell but why milk?
Let’s look at the molecules.
Capsaicin has an end with a long hydrocarbon tail, meaning it’s
nonpolar and one thing about nonpolar
molecules is they dissolve in other nonpolar substances.
Like dissolves like.
Water is a polar substance so drinking water after eating a
hot pepper is like mixing oil and water, it won’t work out that well.
Water will spread the capsaicin around your mouth intensifying the pain.
But milk contains nonpolar molecules so the capsaicin will dissolve
in the milk and wash out of your mouth, giving you sweet sweet relief.
In addition to their nonpolar powers, dairy products
contain the protein casein
which attracts capsaicin molecules.
So milk or ice cream actively pulls
the capsaicin molecules off your TRPV1 receptors and dissolves them.
And there is good news for those of you who can barely handle the pain:
the more capsaicin you eat, the more of a tolerance you build.
This is because the TRPV1 receptors
on your tongue become desensitized
as you eat more and more spicy foods.
SO go on, eat up.
Oh, and one more thing.
It’s that gift giving time of year again--and we want to give you
one of our infographic posters.
Let us know your favorite chemical reaction and
why in the comments section.
We’ll pick three winners at random to get a coffee, tequila
or moon infographic sent to you.
The winners will be picked December 7th so get commenting!
And don’t forget to hit the subscribe button
on your way out to the grocery store to buy more milk.