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What Makes Food Spicy? | Science Podcast for kids · The Curious Kidcast | Fun Facts and Curious Questions

• 0:00
  Right. Stop what you're doing.
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  What if I told you that spicy food, that thing that makes you
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  cry, sweat, and wave your hands around like a Penguin trying to
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  take off, isn't actually hot at all?
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  Like 0 heat. Not even a tiny bit.
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  No flames, no fire, nothing. And yet your brain is
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  completely, 100% convinced your mouth is being destroyed.
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  That is real. That actually happens every
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  single time someone eats a chili.
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  And today we are going to find out exactly why.
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  Curious kid cast. Here we go.
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  Questions poppin Minds will blow big ideas.
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  They're taking flight. Let's explore feel the.
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  Light Hello and welcome to the Curious Kid Cast, the podcast
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  where we take life's most fascinating questions and
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  basically shake them around until all the brilliant, weird,
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  wonderful science falls out. I'm your host, Charlie, and I am
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  so glad you are here today. Now today's question comes from
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  a brilliant young thinker named Theo who is 9 years old and
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  lives in Nashville, TN Theo apparently was at a family BBQ
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  eating what he thought was a totally normal chicken wing.
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  It was not a totally normal chicken wing.
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  It was, according to Theo quote, the spiciest thing that has ever
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  existed in the history of all food ever in the universe.
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  He drank 4 glasses of milk. He cried a little bit.
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  He tried to fan his own tongue with a paper plate.
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  And then, in the middle of all that chaos, he looked up and
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  asked his dad. But why does it feel hot when it
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  isn't actually hot? And Theo, that is a sensational
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  question. Because the answer is genuinely
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  mind blowing. Right?
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  Let's get into it. The reason spicy food feels hot
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  comes down to one tiny little chemical called capsaicin.
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  Say it with me Capsaicin. Capsaicin is found inside Chili
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  Peppers, especially in that pale, spongy bit in the middle.
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  The seeds aren't actually the hottest part, they just get
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  coated in capsaicin like little swimming pools of fire.
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  Now here is the genius, devious, almost criminal thing about
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  capsaicin. It doesn't actually create heat.
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  No flames, no tiny bonfire living inside your jalapeno.
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  Instead, it does something much sneakier.
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  Inside your mouth you have these little sensors called heat
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  receptors. Their proper scientific name is
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  TRPV 1 receptors, which sounds like a robot from a film, but
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  essentially they are your tongues.
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  Fire alarms. When you eat something genuinely
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  hot like soup straight from the stove, those alarms go off and
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  send a message to your brain saying oi hot thing, be careful.
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  Capsaicin, that sneaky little molecule, finds those exact same
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  alarm buttons, sits down and just presses them.
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  Even when the food is stone cold, your brain doesn't pop up
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  and go hang on, let me check the temperature first.
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  It just trusts the signal and bam, it thinks you are on fire.
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  It is basically the world's most convincing prank.
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  Capsaicin is out here pranking your entire nervous system and
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  honestly respect. So once your brain believes
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  there's a fire situation, it goes absolutely bonkers trying
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  to help you. It makes you sweat.
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  Your face turns red. Your heart speeds up.
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  Your nose starts running like it has somewhere very important to
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  be. Your eyes fill with tears.
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  All of that is your body doing its very best to protect you
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  from a fire that does not exist, which is both incredibly sweet
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  and also extremely inconvenient. When you're at a restaurant and
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  you just want it to seem cool by ordering the spicy noodles, here
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  is something interesting. Spicy isn't actually a taste.
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  You can't taste spicy. There's no spicy taste buds
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  sitting there going oh chili lovely.
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  Spicy is a pain signal. Your mouth is technically
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  feeling a small safe amount of irritation.
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  Like a very mild, edible version of being told off.
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  Now this is where it gets fascinating.
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  If spicy food is technically causing pain, why do millions of
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  people absolutely love it? Why do people put hot sauce on
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  everything? Why do parents think it is
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  perfectly normal to eat something that makes a nine year
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  old boy cry at a BBQ? The answer is endorphins.
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  When your body senses pain, it releases these lovely little
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  chemicals called endorphins, which are basically your brain's
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  way of saying you're OK, champ, here's a little treat.
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  Endorphins make you feel calm and happy and kind of buzzy in a
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  good way. So eating spicy food creates
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  this wild combo of burning excitement, relief, and pleasure
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  all at once. It's a bit like riding a roller
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  coaster. Your brain screams danger and
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  then immediately goes, oh wait, that was actually brilliant, can
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  we do it again? That's why people go back for
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  another bite, even when their face is completely melting off.
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  Here's a question for you. Why would a plant even bother
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  making capsaicin in the first place?
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  Plants can't run away, They can't shout at animals to leave
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  them alone. So chili plants evolved this
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  chemical defence system to stop mammals from eating too many of
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  their fruits. But here is the plot twist of
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  the century. Birds cannot feel the heat.
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  Birds have totally different receptors and capsaicin does
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  nothing to them at all. A bird can eat an entire
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  habanero and just be like yes this is a normal Tuesday.
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  Lovely snack, thank you. So the chilies plan is this keep
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  the mammals away, let the birds eat the fruit, and then the
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  birds fly off and spread the seeds in their droppings far and
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  wide. The chili plant is essentially
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  using birds as its own personal delivery service.
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  The whole thing is genius. Disgusting, but genius.
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  Now not all chilies are equally dangerous.
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  Some are warm and mild, others are basically a natural disaster
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  in your mouth. In 1912, a pharmacist named
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  Wilbur Scoville Absolute Legend, invented a scale to measure how
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  spicy Peppers are. It's called the Scoville scale
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  and it measures how much capsaicin is in a pepper.
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  A sweet bell pepper, the nice safe one that goes in your lunch
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  box score. 0A jalapeno might be a few thousand.
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  A habanero gets into the hundreds of thousands and the
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  Carolina Reaper, which sounds like a villain in a superhero
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  film and probably should be, clocks in at over 2 million
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  Scoville units. 2 million At that level, people genuinely
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  need medical grade amounts of milk standing by.
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  Please do not eat a Carolina Reaper on a dare.
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  I am saying this is a friend. If your mouth is on fire, what's
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  the obvious thing to reach for? Water, right?
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  Wrong. Catastrophically wrong.
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  Capsaicin is oily and you know how oil and water don't mix?
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  Instead of washing the capsaicin away, water just swirls it
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  around your mouth and makes everything 10 times worse.
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  It's like trying to put out a grease fire with more grease.
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  Milk, however, is the actual hero here.
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  Milk contains a protein called casein, and casein grabs onto
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  capsaicin molecules and physically removes them from
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  your tongue. Yoghurt works.
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  Cheese works. Ice cream works.
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  Science has genuinely never tasted better.
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  So next time someone says you are being babyish for wanting
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  milk with your spicy food, you look them dead in the eyes and
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  you say actually I am applying food science.
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  And then you walk away very calmly.
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  Here's something cool. Not all spicy is the same.
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  Spicy wasabi and mustard give you that sharp, eye watering,
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  nose exploding rush that goes straight up into your sinuses
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  and then vanishes really fast. It's like a sneeze you didn't
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  ask for. Black pepper gives you a gentle
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  warmth, very civilized, very calm about itself.
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  And then there's Scituan pepper, which does something completely
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  different. Instead of burning, it makes
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  your mouth go numb and fizzy and kind of electric.
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  It's as if your tongue is being tickled by a tiny robot.
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  It is extremely strange and surprisingly wonderful.
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  OK, rapid fire bonus facts. And yes, I am aware that is an
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  extremely appropriate phrase for this episode.
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  Astronauts in space often prefer spicy food because in zero
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  gravity all their body fluids float upward and make their
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  noses feel constantly blocked. Everything tastes bland, so they
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  load up on hot sauce to make meals exciting.
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  Imagine floating around in space crying because your food is too
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  spicy and the tears just float off your face.
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  Beautiful capsaicin is used in some medical creams to help with
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  muscle and joint pain. So the thing that causes pain
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  can also, in the right amount, help with pain that is deeply
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  confusing and also kind of amazing.
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  Farmers in some parts of the world use chili powder to keep
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  elephants away from their crops. Elephants have incredibly
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  sensitive trunks, and they absolutely cannot stand the
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  irritation. So chilies, which make birds
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  happy, make mammals miserable, and make humans do a dramatic
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  cry dance in their kitchen also keep actual elephants away.
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  One tiny molecule extraordinary. Some people eat very spicy food
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  and barely react. Others find even mild chili
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  completely overwhelming. Part of that is genetics, just
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  small differences in how sensitive your heat receptors
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  are. But experience matters a huge
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  amount, too. If you eat spicy food regularly,
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  your receptors gradually become less sensitive.
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  You build up what's called a tolerance is a bit like training
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  a muscle. Start small, let your tongue
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  adjust slowly, increase the heat over time.
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  But, and this is important, there is zero prize for
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  suffering. If you like mild food, mild food
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  is wonderful and there is absolutely nothing wrong with
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  you. The Carolina Reaper will still
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  be there if you ever change your mind, right?
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  It is quiz time. 3 questions Think carefully.
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  Question one What is the name of the chemical in Chili Peppers
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  that makes food feel spicy? Is it a casein, B capsaicin, or
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  C piperin? The answer is B capsaicin.
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  Capsaicin is the sneaky little molecule that presses your
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  tongue's fire alarms even when there is no actual heat.
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  Question 2. Why doesn't water help when your
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  mouth is burning from spicy food?
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  Is it A because water makes you more thirsty, B because
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  capsaicin is oily and water can't wash oil away, or C
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  because your tongue is too hot for water to cool down?
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  The answer is B Capsaicin is oily and oil and water don't
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  mix, so water just spreads the spice around and makes things
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  worse. Reach for the milk.
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  Question three. Why can birds eat Chili Peppers
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  without feeling any burn? Is it A because birds have
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  really tough tongues, B because birds eat so fast they don't
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  notice, or C because birds have different heat receptors that
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  aren't affected by capsaicin? The answer is C Birds have
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  different receptors and capsaicin doesn't trigger them
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  at all. This is all part of the chili
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  plants master plan to use birds as seed spreading delivery
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  drones. Genius.
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  Absolutely genius. And that, curious kids, is the
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  incredible spicy sciency story of why your mouth goes haywire
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  when you eat a chili. Capsaicin tricks, your brain's
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  fire alarms, your body panics and unleashes endorphins.
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  You cry, you sweat, you wave your hands around.
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  And then somehow you want another bite.
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  All because of one tiny molecule inside a pepper that is
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  essentially playing the world's most elaborate prank on your
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  face. A huge thank you to Theo from
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  Nashville for that brilliant question.
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  I hope the next chicken wing you eat is exactly as spicy as you
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  want it to be, no more, no less. And that there is always milk
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  nearby, just in case. If you enjoyed today's episode,
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  please share it with a friend, a sibling, a parent, a teacher,
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  anyone who has ever wondered something curious about the
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  world. And if you'd like to subscribe
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  to you never miss an episode, please do.
• 13:03
  It means the world to us, and it helps more curious kids find the
• 13:06
  show. Do you have a question you'd
• 13:09
  like us to answer on the show? Head to our website at
• 13:12
  curiouskidcast.com and send it in.
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  There is no such thing as a silly question.
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  There is only a question waiting for a brilliant sciency answer.
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  I'm Charlie. Thanks for being curious today.
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  See you next time.