Table of contents:
- The brain is "confused" when we eat spicy food
- The effect of eating spicy food is the same as the feeling of heat due to scrapings
- Is eating large amounts of spicy food harmful to your health?
According to several recent studies, eating spicy food can provide longevity.
As a brief overview of the study, it was concluded that the risk of premature death had decreased by 14 percent if people consumed spicy food 6-7 times a week, compared to those who ate spicy food less than once a week.
But, have you ever wondered why eating spicy food often causes chills, flushing, runny nose, and heavy sweating?
The brain is "confused" when we eat spicy food
Spicy foods stimulate receptors in the skin that normally respond to heat. These collections of receptors, namely pain nerve fibers, are technically known as polymodal nociceptors. They respond to temperature extremes and intense mechanical stimulation, such as pinching and scratching of sharp objects; however, they also respond to certain chemical influences. The central nervous system can be confused or fooled when these pain fibers are stimulated by a chemical, such as the capsaicin commonly found in hot peppers, which triggers an ambiguous nerve response.
So how does the brain decide whether the mouth is being pinched, scratched, burned, or exposed to a chemical? Scientists aren't sure how this process works, but they suspect the brain makes judgments based on the type and variety of stimuli it receives. The stimulus to the nociceptors themselves may indicate extreme and dangerous temperatures. However, capsaicin also stimulates the nerves that respond only to a mild increase in temperature - which gives off a slight feeling of warmth or stifling when the "irritation". Thus, capsaicin sends two messages to the brain: "I am an intense stimulus," as well as "I am warmth." Together, these stimuli define a burning sensation, not a pinch or laceration.
The central nervous system reacts to whatever signals the sensory system sends about what's going on. Therefore, the activity pattern of pain and warm nerve fibers triggers both sensation and physical reactions to heat, including dilation of blood vessels, sweating, crying, and skin flushing.
The reason is, your body views capsaicin as a foreign substance that needs to be rinsed off immediately. This causes the body's mucous glands to work extra hard to repair the "damage". The result is a runny nose and a runny mouth, which is followed by an increase in saliva in the mouth.
Also, once the heat sensitive pain receptors are activated, your brain believes your body is overheating and will go to great lengths to reverse the condition. Ultimately, the body triggers one of the best defenses against heat: sweat.
The effect of eating spicy food is the same as the feeling of heat due to scrapings
Most people think of the "sting" of spicy food as a form of a taste - like salty, sweet, sour. In fact, the two sensory experiences are actually related but very different. They both "fire" the nerves of the tongue in the same way, but the pain system triggered by capsaicin is all over the body, so you can have a stifling effect every centimeter of your curve.
In comparison: some linimentoids contain compounds that can both stimulate temperature changes in the skin. Menthol acts in much the same way as capsaicin, but in this case, it stimulates the nerve fibers responsible for recognizing cold temperatures, not nerve fibers for hot temperatures. This is why products containing menthol have names like 'Icy Hot' - menthol stimulates both heat (pain) and cold receptors, sending the brain a completely ambiguous signal. This difference explains why there is no confusion for the body to detect which is menthol stimulated and which capsaicin is stimulated: one of them has a "hot and cold" effect, while the other has only a hot and stifling effect that makes emotions flare up.
The sensations produced by menthol and capsaicin are anomalies of human physiology - we obviously did not develop receptors to react to these two compounds. The chemical tricks pain receptors for the sole purpose of recognizing important and life-threatening events, such as skin damage and inflammation. The soft texture around the injury is partly due to the same neural response to chemicals released in the skin. Humans are unique creatures - we can take advantage of the neural responses that usually signal danger and turn them into something fun.
Interestingly, although chilies are found in many cuisines around the world, capsaicin is actually a neurotoxin and in large enough concentrations it can cause seizures, heart attacks, and even death.
Is eating large amounts of spicy food harmful to your health?
Spicy food can burn your skin, mouth, stomach and intestines - but calm down, it's just hyperbolic. As explained above, the capsaicin contained in chilies only activates nerve fibers which are responsible for producing pain and an increase in body temperature, not actually burning your intestinal walls.
How badly "burns" you feel will depend on your sensitivity to spicy foods and how much chilies you touch or consume. In some cases, spicy food can affect or worsen a medical condition, which only increases the intensity of the symptoms but is not a risk factor for disease.
If you have stomach ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or other digestive disorders, eating spicy food can cause so much of a painful burning sensation that it may make you cry. If you have GERD, spicy foods can trigger heartburn (increased stomach acid that causes your throat to feel hot). If you have an intestinal disorder, such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn's disease, the "burning" sensation may not start until food reaches your intestines and enters your intestinal tract.
Some spices, such as mustard and horseradish, if consumed in large quantities can really damage the network, quoted from SF Gate.
