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  • "Habanero."

  • Why is it that some people like spicy food and some people hate it?

  • "Oh, man."

  • How does that work?

  • "I regret it."

  • Most spiciness is caused by one of two chemicals: Allylisothiocyanite, which is what you find in wasabi or mustard, and capsaicin, which is what you find in peppers.

  • Plants usually use these to fend off predators like ants or fungi who would otherwise destroy their seeds before they had the chance to spread.

  • "It's like a snake bit my tongue."

  • So why do you feel that burning sensation when you're eating spice?

  • "When I swallow I feel it on the back of my throat"

  • Almost like there's actual temperature change going on

  • "Yeah, if I don't talk it's actually better. You can definitely feel heat build inside your face."

  • Well, the way your body reacts to capsaicin is the same way it reacts to high temperatures.

  • "A chunk just went down my throat."

  • (Off-screen) "So, what is the feeling you have right now?"

  • "Regret."

  • "Starting to regulate my heartbeat."

  • Your palate is essentially being tricked into thinking that it's actually burning.

  • Receptors in the throat and the mouth and the tongue detect the presence of the capsaicin and they send pain signals to the other parts of the body.

  • "Breathing in and out hurts."

  • "I'm starting to cry."

  • When you consume capsaicin, your body releases endorphins which are natural stress-fighters.

  • People learn to like spice by associating the pain of capsaicin with the positive rush of endorphins.

  • "I feel like, I'm like gassed from a marathon."

  • We rate spice with the Scoville scale which was invented by an american pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville back in 1912.

  • Bell peppers are at the bottom with zero.

  • Jalapeno peppers range anywhere from 2500 to 10,000 which is actually pretty low on the scale.

  • Jump to two million and you've got standard US-grade pepper spray.

  • And pure capsaicin clocks in at 15 million. That's $*%#ing hot.

  • We've been eating spicy food for about six thousand years.

  • If you think about the genres of food that are usually spicy like Mexican, Indian, and Thai, they're all very hot regions and there are a couple reasons for that.

  • Cooking with spice traditionally helped get rid of bacteria that could make people sick.

  • Especially in places with high humidity and heat.

  • "I'm sweating right now."

  • "Oh, s*&#, it's getting worse actually."

  • And the next time you're sweating from a particularly spicy bite, don't go for water, it's almost totally useless.

  • What you need is milk, yogurt, rice, liquor or even peanut butter.

  • Oils, fats, and alcohol all help dissolve the capsaicin.

  • Water just doesn't.

  • "It helps."

  • Your receptors don't dull or get any less sensitive the more spicy we eat.

  • "In 30 minutes, we're all going to be laughing about this. I read on the Internet that this helps."

  • Your body just has to learn to associate the pain with pleasure.

  • "It hurts but it tastes really good."

  • "Yeah, it was worth the pain. All the burps just taste like delicious spicy food."

"Habanero."

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