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Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

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Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#91

Post by guitarbill »

avar wrote: post #51
Raphmedia wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my tongue hung out under flowing water from the faucet in the bathroom. Oh god. Capsaicin is not water soluble. You just removed everything from your tongue BUT the capsaicin.

I wonder if I'm the only one who finds water helps a bit. I know it's not water soluble, but it has the effect of evenly distributing the burn around my mouth, which feels better to me. For some reason I'm a lot more bothered by extremely localized pain than evenly distributed pain, when you chew a pepper you tend to e.g. disproportionately burn on one side of your tongue. Drinking some water and swishing it around i…

Could it be psychological also? Like a placebo?

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#92

Post by evincarofautumn »

Raphmedia wrote: post #27
Noseshine wrote: post #17

Anecdote allowed? This reminds me of the Habanero Burger at "The Swinging Door" pub (I'm not sure it had the same name when I went there occasionally over 10 years ago, the first time actually almost 20 years ago in 1997) in San Mateo, CA [0]. (EDIT: It was the Prince of Wales pub previously! Lots of Habanero Burger stories: [1]) They had a "Wall of Flame" with stickers from all people who "survived" eating one. You…

> my tongue hung out under flowing water from the faucet in the bathroom. Oh god. Capsaicin is not water soluble. You just removed everything from your tongue BUT the capsaicin.

It is soluble in alcohol! Now, I don’t know if drinking alcohol with spicy food actually helps the burn, but it can certainly help take your mind off it.

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#93

Post by crazygringo »

calvinbhai wrote: post #80

I'm not sure why people go for the heat. I'm from India and there are many hot/spicy options available. But most chili peppers are used for their flavor or color (e.g. Kashmiri Red Chilli powder is very red, less spicy) and varying the levels of heat/spiciness by adding more of less of it, instead of using the spiciest variety (like the ghost peppers that have caught the fancy of the west). I wish the flavor componen…

Because sometimes you're eating some boring-ass flavorless overcooked chicken breast with no skin and you need something to make it palatable distract you from what appears indistinguishable from tough, stringy cardboard. :)

But really, it's just fun. Enjoying extreme spiciness has nothing to do with enjoying food. Think of it as just a totally separate activity.

And I get that plenty of people don't find tongue-numbing to be fun at all. For all I know, there's a gene for it. But for those of us who do find it fun... it's fun!

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#94

Post by 26 »

In Cambodia we have these "bird's eye chilis" [1] and they're included in many dishes. How do these compare to some of the other chili peppers and sauces discussed here? I do have a high tolerance for heat (it's no problem to eat 20-30 of these in a dish, or eat them raw) but I'm not sure I could characterize their taste in any meaningful way.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s_eye_chili

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#95

Post by Cerium »

M_Grey wrote: post #38
klipt wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just FYI, Sichuan pepper is a great spice, but isn't related to the chili family (habanero, jalapeno, thai, etc) at all.

What is it exactly? It looks a bit like a spiny berry to my untrained eye.

It is a peppercorn sized shell that is usually split open like pac-man. It gives food a strange numbing sensation.

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#96

Post by [deleted] »

na85 wrote: post #85
calvinbhai wrote: post #80

I'm not sure why people go for the heat. I'm from India and there are many hot/spicy options available. But most chili peppers are used for their flavor or color (e.g. Kashmiri Red Chilli powder is very red, less spicy) and varying the levels of heat/spiciness by adding more of less of it, instead of using the spiciest variety (like the ghost peppers that have caught the fancy of the west). I wish the flavor componen…

In my experience it's the provincials, the types who like to think they're cultural and worldly but aren't, that typically go bananas for the hottest peppers. When I was in university I noticed it tended to be the guys with inferiority complexes that were the ones to bring up how hot they like their food, and would try to work it into conversation. Spice/heat is a meme.

[deleted]

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#97

Post by M_Grey »

StavrosK wrote: post #72
yoamro wrote: post #20

I'd be interested to see how someone would fare by chewing on some synsepalum dulcificum aka miracle fruit [1] followed by a Ghost pepper. In theory, it should be able to block out most of the TRPV1 heat receptors as well. If only I did my thesis on this. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum

Well, I have some old miracle fruit tablets and various spicy sauces I can try if you want... Probably not Ghost pepper, though.

I for one, would be interested in the results of that!

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#98

Post by agentgt »

I used to be able to handle really hot peppers up in till college and then one day during college completely over did it .

I'm not sure if that "day" was the cause of my increased sensitivity or if I just age related but now I can barely enjoy red pepper flakes. Oh it goes down just fine but later... later I'm writhing in pain rolling around in the bed at night ... and then later on the toilet ... well I think you know what happens next.

As I get older it seems to get worse which seems like it shouldn't. Shouldn't the receptors be more tolerant? Or maybe it is more like allergens where there is a certain threshold and then once that threshold is exceed you become more and more sensitive (e.g. poison ivy does this).

BTW capsaicin does have a theoretical LD 50 based on mice. So yeah if you eat enough it will probably kill you but it is an outrageous amount (~ 50-100mg/kg). You would have to have it extracted to do it (some one actually went ahead and did the math here on how many peppers: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/6810/can-you-die...).

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#99

Post by malkia »

M_Grey wrote: post #68
klipt wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wiki says: "The genus Zanthoxylum belongs in the rue or citrus family, and, despite its name, is not closely related to either black pepper or chili pepper." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan_pepper

Well, I learned something new today, thanks.

Me too! Thank you!

Re: Can you hurt yourself eating chilli peppers?

#100

Post by jghn »

blhack wrote: post #83
huherto wrote: post #11

Mexican here. I find it amusing that people focus on how spicy their peppers are. They are missing the point. There are many pepper varieties and each has a different flavor. That is the interesting part and how it mixes with different foods in a variety of recipes. Focus on the flavor, not the burn.

I think it's kindof funny that people somehow associate Mexican and Indian food with being spicy. I almost think it scares them off of trying some of those dishes. In my experience, Mexican food is rich , but not spicy. Same thing with (some) Indian food. Maybe I'm trying the wrong food, though? I've only traveled in western India (Maharashtra). I would love some recommendations for dishes to try! BBQ (from the US) i…

Where are you finding BBQ which registers as "the hottest food"? I can't think of a single regional BBQ style which would qualify as needle moving at all for me.
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