Why Does Spicy Food Cause Burning? (video)

Author: Marko Balašević Time for reading: ~1 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

In this article, learn more about Why Does Spicy Food Cause Burning? (video). Spicy foods contain an ingredient that binds to pain and heat receptors..

To understand why the burning sensation occurs when eating spicy foods , you need to "look" at the tongue . It is covered with many small elevations of the mucosa called "papillae", which contain taste buds. There, the chemicals in the food are "decoded", after which a signal is sent to the brain . Later, this is associated with "sensory" information about the aroma of the food, its texture and temperature, which give it flavor.

There are also receptors for heat and pain in the mouth . Normally, they are "activated" only at a temperature higher than 42 degrees Celsius, but in some cases they can be misleading.

In spicy foods such as chili, the ingredient capsaicin binds to these receptors. A signal is then sent to the brain, which "says" that there is something hot in the mouth. This leads to a burning sensation and a physical reaction to heat - sweating and redness.

In fact, there is nothing so hot in the mouth that can cause skin burns, but the brain mistakenly thinks there is.

Interestingly, capsaicin can not only cause a burning sensation, but also relieve pain . After initial exposure, the sensitivity of the receptors decreases . Knowing this, scientists use the ingredient as part of various medical creams designed to relieve arthritis pain.

Why Does Spicy Food Cause Burning? (video)

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