Spicy Food: What Happens in Your Brain
In Spicy Food: What Happens in Your Brain, host Harith Iskander explains how capsaicin, the chemical found in hot peppers, affects the brain. When you eat something spicy, capsaicin binds to pain receptors in your tongue, sending a signal to your brain that your mouth is "on fire." In response, your brain activates cooling mechanisms, like making you sweat. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Got Science?, a science magazine series that explores and explains science in everyday life.
Lesson Express
Q: What does capsaicin do when it enters your mouth?
A: Capsaicin binds to pain receptors in the tongue, sending a signal to the brain that your mouth is on fire.
Q: Why does drinking milk help when eating spicy food?
A: Milk helps because it contains casein, a protein that binds to capsaicin, the compound that makes food spicy, helping to neutralize the burning sensation and providing relief from the heat.
Q: How does the brain help cool the body down when we eat something spicy?
A: The brain triggers sweating to help cool the body down after the pain receptors detect capsaicin.
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In Feeling the Heat: What Happens When We Eat Chilis, presenter Cherry Healey visits the University of Sheffield to learn what makes chilis hot and how our mouths respond. Cherry conducts an impromptu experiment. Learn which drink can cut the heat and how. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Inside the Factory, a series that takes viewers behind the scenes in the factories that make our favorite products.