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The science of spiciness - Rose Eveleth
Learning Stats
CEFR Level
Difficulty
Subtitles (108 segments)
Why does your mouth feel like it's on fire
when you eat a spicy pepper?
And how do you soothe the burn?
Why does wasabi make your eyes water?
And how spicy is the spiciest spice?
Let's back up a bit.
First, what is spiciness?
Even though we often say that something tastes spicy,
it's not actually a taste,
like sweet or salty or sour.
Instead, what's really happening
is that certain compounds in spicy foods
activate the type of sensory neurons
called polymodal nociceptors.
You have these all over your body,
including your mouth and nose,
and they're the same receptors
that are activated by extreme heat.
So, when you eat a chili pepper,
your mouth feels like it's burning
because your brain actually thinks it's burning.
The opposite happens when you eat something
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