What Makes Food Spicy?

What makes food spicy? Hi, welcome to Curious Kids Every Day. I'm Josh. How are you doing today? It's so good to hear from you. Hey, have you ever tried a new food? But before you put it in your mouth, a grown-up said to you, be careful. It's spicy. Do you know what it means for food to be spicy? Well, that means that when it goes into your mouth, it burns a little bit. Some foods are spicier than others, and some people are better able to handle spicy food. Some people like spicy food, and others don't. My kids don't really like spicy food, but I do. Well, as long as it's not too spicy. Have you ever wondered what makes food spicy? What does it feel like when you eat a spicy food? Have you ever tried a spicy food? What did it make your face feel like? Maybe your eyes wound up a little bit or maybe you started to sweat? I was thinking about this today because I got a question from some kids in the Curious Kids Club, named Evelyn May, Atlas, and Abby. They wondered why do spicy things make your nose run? Why is some food spicy to some people who are not too old, why is it spicy? Well, let's begin with chili peppers. Chili peppers contain a natural chemical called capsaicin. Can you say capsaicin? When you bite into a spicy pepper or eat food containing hot sauce, capsaicin spreads around your mouth and reaches tiny nerve endings on your tongue and on your lips and on your cheeks. Now, your taste buds help you notice tastes such as sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory. The burning feeling from capsaicin comes mainly from sensory nerves that detects temperature and possible harm. Those nerves have tiny sensors called TRPV1 receptors. Can you say TRPV1 receptors? What are those? TRPV1 receptors usually respond when something becomes painfully hot. Capsaicin can switch these receptors on even when food isn't hot. Like a pepper doesn't have to be warm to the touch to taste spicy. So these nerves then send electrical messages to your brain. Your brain reads those messages as warnings about heat. So that's why if you're eating chips with salsa, even if the salsa is cold, suddenly you can start feeling your mouth burning. Your body may respond by producing more saliva or spit. Some people also begin sweating because their nervous system is reacting to those heat warning messages. And that makes sense. If you're playing outside on the hot day, you start to sweat. When your body feels like it's experiencing heat, it wants to sweat in order to help regulate your temperature. Different peppers contain different amounts of capsaicin. A sweet bell pepper has little to no capsaicin while a hot chili pepper contains much more. Most of a hot peppers capsaicin is made in the pale inner tissue that holds the seeds. Have you ever cut a pepper open and looked at that very strange looking middle section of the pepper? This tissue is sometimes called the placenta. The seeds can pick up capsaicin when they touch it, but the seeds do not produce most of the peppers heat themselves. This is why if you bite into the center of a pepper, it's a lot more spicy than the outside areas. Chili peppers aren't the only foods that create a sharper burning sensation. Black pepper contains a chemical called piperine. Can you say piperine? Piperine can activate the same TRPV1 sensors as well. Okay, so why can one person eat a spicy meal? No problem. But another person immediately reaches for a drink. Well, people have different levels of natural sensitivity and their past experiences with spicy food affect this, too. With repeated exposure, the nerve endings can become less responsive for a while. That means enjoying spicy food is something a person can sometimes become accustomed to gradually. Everyone's comfort level is different. If a bite feels too spicy, water might give you a quick sense of relief, but capsaicin actually does not mix very well with water. The water may actually move the capsaicin around without carrying much of it away. Do you want to know the liquid that actually works the best? It's milk. Milk contains a protein called casing, which can bind with capsaicin and reduce the amount that remains free in your mouth. So you put the milk in your mouth and that grabs onto the capsaicin and then the milk carries the capsaicin away when you swallow, pretty clever. Capsaicin can also remain on your fingers after you handle a hot pepper. So washing your hands with soap and keeping them away from your eyes is very important, too. Eventually, the capsaicin moves away and the nerve signals settle down. The spicy feeling fades and your mouth returns to normal. But that's what makes some food spicy. It's primarily due to a chemical called capsaicin. Okay, let's have a quick quiz and see what we learned today. What chemical gives chili peppers their spicy feeling? It's called capsaicin. And what tiny nerve sensors does capsaicin activate? They're called TRPV1 receptors. And where is most of a hot pepper's capsaicin made? In the pale, inner tissue that holds the seeds. And why can the same spicy food feel different to different people? Because people have different sensitivities and different amounts of experience with spicy food. Plus, you know, some people just like certain foods more than other people do. I know there are certain foods that I really love that my wife doesn't like as much or my kids don't like as much. And then my kids really like some foods that I'm just kind of okay about. I'll eat them, but they're not my favorite. Okay, let's play tourfalls. So you ready? Tourfalls, food must be physically hot to activate a heat warning signal in your mouth. Nope, that's false. Spicy foods don't have to actually be hot or warm in order to activate your brain to think, "Ah, we're eating something hot!" Tourfalls, capsaicin can cause your mouth to produce more saliva. Yep, that's true. Saliva is another word for spit. Tourfalls, pepper seeds can pick up capsaicin by touching the pepper's inner tissue. That is true. Tourfalls, capsaicin mixes easily with water. Nope, that's false. You remember what a better liquid option is if you're trying to get rid of the capsaicin in your mouth? Yep, it's milk. Would you rather eat a sweet food or a spicy food? Hmm, depends on what I'm hungry for. I like sweet foods and spicy foods. If you asked me right now, I would probably choose a spicy food. All right, let's play a round of what am I? What am I? I'm a liquid made by your body. I move around your mouth while you chew, and your mouth may make more of me after eating something spicy. What am I? I am saliva. Today, we learn that chili peppers contain something called capsaicin, a chemical that activates heat sensing nerves in your mouth. Those nerves send warning messages to your brain, which creates the feeling of burning even when the food is cool. someone ever says to you, "Watch out! That food is spicy!" Now you know what's going on if you decide to take a bite anyway. What kind of question do you think we'll ask tomorrow on Curious Kids every day? I can't wait to find out so until then keep asking questions and stay curious kids. And some of the kids in the Curious Kids Club have birthdays today. Miles Shepard from California is turning one. Happy Birthday Miles Shepard. These kids are turning four today. Milo from Missouri. Happy Birthday Milo. Evie from North Carolina. Happy Birthday Evie. And Emma line from Tennessee. Happy Birthday Emma line. These kids are turning five today. Jackson from San Diego. Happy Birthday Jackson. Penelope from Georgia. Happy Birthday Penelope. And Della from Missouri. Happy Birthday Della. These kids are turning six today. Neil from Washington. Happy Birthday Neil. May Jewel from Oregon. Happy Birthday May Jewel. Maggie from Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Happy Birthday Maggie. Fulton from California. Happy Birthday Fulton. And Wells from South Carolina. Happy Birthday Wells. These two kids are turning seven today. Luca from Connecticut. Happy Birthday Luca. And Jack from Colorado. Happy Birthday Jack. And Finley is from Michigan. And Finley is turning eight today. Happy Birthday Finley. To all the grownups listening, if your curious kid wants their birthday mentioned on the show, please visit supportcuriouskids.com and join the Curious Kids Club. That supportcuriouskids.com. See you tomorrow!