{"id":12090,"date":"2024-06-27T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=12090"},"modified":"2024-06-14T03:49:41","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T03:49:41","slug":"why-doesnt-water-help-with-spicy-food-what-about-milk-or-beer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/why-doesnt-water-help-with-spicy-food-what-about-milk-or-beer\/","title":{"rendered":"Why doesn\u2019t water help with spicy food? What about milk or\u00a0beer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n \n Hello Dinny\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Daniel Eldridge<\/a>, Swinburne University of Technology<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Spicy foods taste spicy because they contain a family of compounds called capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the major culprit. It\u2019s found in chillies, jalape\u00f1os, cayenne pepper, and is even the active ingredient in pepper spray<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

Capsaicin doesn\u2019t actually physically heat up your mouth. The burning sensation comes from receptors in the mouth reacting to capsaicin and sending a signal to the brain that something is very hot.<\/p>\n\n

That\u2019s why the \u201chot\u201d chilli sensation feels so real \u2013 we even respond by sweating. To alleviate the heat, you need to remove the capsaicin from your mouth.<\/p>\n\n

So why doesn\u2019t drinking water help make that spicy feeling go away? And what would work better instead?<\/p>\n\n

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Water-loving and water-hating molecules<\/h2>\n\n

To help us choose what might wash the capsaicin away most effectively, it\u2019s helpful to know that capsaicin is a hydrophobic molecule. That means it hates being in contact with water and will not easily mix with it.<\/p>\n\n

Look what happens when you try to mix hydrophobic sand with water.<\/p>\n\n

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