Why does spicy food feel hot?
The Hot Pepper Trick
Why does spicy food feel hot?
You bite into a pepper and suddenly your mouth is on fire. But there's no flame, no smoke, no actual heat. So what's happening? Why does spicy food feel hot when it's the same temperature as everything else on your plate?
The culprit is a chemical called capsaicin. It lives inside peppers, coating the white ribs and seeds. When you bite down, capsaicin molecules flood into your mouth and latch onto special sensors on your tongue — the same sensors that normally detect actual heat.
