(orchestra music)
- Since ancient Mayan
and Aztec civilizations,
human beings have known
there's more to hot peppers
than just their spicy kick.
From medicine men to modern doctors,
we recognize that hot peppers
and the sauces we make from them
can actually relieve pain.
So if you're a lover of hot sauce,
is it because you like the taste?
Or because you're a pepper
junky hooked on a feeling?
Are you high on believing?
Well believe this.
There's a two part process
that spicy foods like hot sauce
use to make us feel
like we're high on fire.
First is a potent
chemical called capsaicin
and its partner dihydrocapsaicin.
They have no color,
odor, or actual flavor,
however both trick our
nervous system into thinking
that our tongues have touched
something scorching hot.
These capsaicinoids trigger
a protein in our mouths
called TRPV1.
Now this protein signals
our brain by releasing
a neuropeptide called substance P
and tells it our mouth is burning.
To give you a comparison,
it usually isn't activated
by anything in our mouths
under 109 degrees Fahrenheit.
That's how hot something has to be
to stimulate the same
response as hot sauce.
But when it's triggered,
substance P tells our brains
to pump endorphins to the site.
Now these endorphins are
what cause the natural high
reported by fans of intense hot sauce.
It's a pleasant sensation,
kind of like the runner's high
reported by marathon racers.
Now endorphins like these
also help pregnant women
with the pain of childbirth,
even increasing their soothing
levels in amniotic fluid
so the child itself is
protected from birthing pains.
So in a way, eating hot sauce
reminds us of being born
into this big bright world.
(baby laughter)
So if it can make us feel that good,
why aren't we all hot sauce addicts,
jonesing for our next fix?
Well it turns out you
can actually build up
a tolerance to it.
If you're consistently
exposed to capsaicin,
it can potentially kill
the fibers in the receptors
that alert your brain.
It's only after the exposure
stops that your nerves
can produce it again.
Despite this, scientists
are looking into ways
to use capsaicin to
manage pain for everything
from shingles to arthritis,
which leads me to wonder,
are there any other foods out
there that take your pain away
and make you feel oh so good?
Let me know in the comments so
I can taste test all of them.
And while you're at it,
may I suggest two things to
satiate your saucy curiosity.
First check out our food stuff video
on the secret of hot sauce,
where my colleagues dive even further
into the science and history
of the spicy condiment,
and finally please
subscribe to our channel.
We'll never let you down.
