How does the spicy taste of chili affect the body?

  Chili peppers have many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, but their contribution to the daily nutritional level is negligible.

"Which chili is not hot chili?" This proverb is probably not true anymore. There are chili peppers that are not spicy. It is Da Lat chili, even people call it sweet chili, full of green red yellow color, beautiful skin and cool eyes.

As soon as he looked at his lover, "eating nine ounces of chili, as sweet as sugar". This proverb must be about Da Lat chili. Actually, Dalat chili is also spicy, but very mildly spicy. It is impossible to assimilate mild spicy with mixed spicy, insinuating spicy.

Fresher on the outside, spicier on the inside

The spicy taste is due to capsaicin. The more capsaicin the chili peppers, the spicier they are.

Throat tear is mainly caused by capsaicin attaching to receptors (receptors) that specialize in "recognizing" heat and spiciness in the mouth (tongue, palate, throat, ...), and then notify the brain.

The brain knows, we know, bitter, tearful, sweaty, heart pounding, painful, bitter, etc. But it's really fun, not playing. This "burning" pain causes the brain region to release endorphins, making people feel "happy", lightheaded, pain-reducing, refreshing, etc. Some people even think that hot peppers make people feel good. increase men's bravery.

But not everyone can stand the spicy. Cay just felt happy. Too spicy, only water in the mouth, jumping. Drinking water does not solve anything in this "ecstatic" case.

The spicy taste causes the brain to release endorphins, giving a feeling of refreshment. Illustration: Bulbul Ahmed.

Drinking a glass of milk can be soothing. Because the caseine in milk binds to capsaicin and "strips" it off. Another more appealing way is to take a sip of brandy. Strong wine, but not beer. Capsaicin is insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, so alcohol will "wash" the capsaicin away.

Capsaicin can also cause skin burning, try touching the minced chili to know right away. In this case, it should be washed with soap, detergent or shampoo.

The spiciest part of a chili is not the flesh of the red, yellow, green chili. Not even chili peppers. The spiciest of chili peppers is the membrane on the inside of the chili, covering the seed chain, especially the part near the chili stalk, containing the most capsaicin.

Those who like happiness and are afraid of spicy can reduce the spiciness of chili peppers by peeling off the intestines of chili peppers. If you are afraid, soak chili with vinegar or salt water, the spiciness will be much reduced. If in brine, use fine salt. If salt is used, chili peppers will turn dark, because salt contains iodine. Dried chili peppers are less spicy than chili peppers of the same type.

Chili is hot, but how hot is it? The most common spiciness scale is the SHU (Scoville Heat Unit). The higher the SHU, the spicier the chili. Da Lat chili is about 0-500 SHU, while Vietnam's dangerous chili is about 50,000-100,000.

Hot chili is considered "dangerous" spicy, but it is still not meant to be. The American savena habanero chili is about 2 million SHU.

Tears of joy are new

The antibacterial properties of chili peppers are due to the hot ingredient capsaicin. The more spicy and seasoned foods are, the less the risk of infection will be. Eating raw seafood salad should also eat spicy. But note to help, reducing the risk of infection does not mean not infected, and only antibacterial, not destroying toxins in seafood.

In chili there are many vitamins, minerals, all kinds, including antioxidants. However, we eat very little chili, so their contribution to the daily nutritional level is considered negligible. What people want to target is the capsaicin in chili peppers.

In fact, there are some other substances in chili peppers that also create a spicy taste but are very weak, only about 1/1000 capsaicin. These substances, together with capsaicin, are collectively known as capsaicinoids.

The "spicy" group of capsaicinoids is said to have anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, antioxidant, pain-relieving, weight-loss, ... Science is studying the use of capsaicinoids in therapy. Currently, capsaicinoids are only used in ointments, or powders for pain relief, anti-irritants, etc.

A recent study in the BMJ - British Medical Journal (2015) - gave an optimistic signal about spicy food: Regularly eating spicy food is inversely associated with deaths from cancer, anemia ischemic heart diseases and respiratory diseases. However, this is only a preliminary study, and more evidence is needed to convince.

The American Cancer Society warns that there is no scientific evidence that supplements or supplements containing chili and pepper can prevent or treat cancer. Support for cardiovascular diseases, stroke, malaria, poor appetite, weight loss, erectile dysfunction, ... is not enough evidence.

Eating spicy is not the cause of stomach pain, but people with stomach pain should only eat spicy food in moderation. Because capsaicin can irritate the lining of the stomach (which does not heal) and lead to some uncomfortable symptoms, heartburn, burning (gastroesophageal reflux, …).