Heat and Health

At the momment, I am consuming a bowl of piping hot Ramen noodles. Every once in a while, it serves as a nice quick meal I can whip up with relatively no mess to clean. I'm sure you are familiar with the yellowish-orangish color of the ramen broth. I season mine with shoyu (the correct term for soy-sauce, it being the Japanese name, pronounced is 'show-you'), memmi (japnese sauce base), Franks red hot, and lot's of Indian red pepper. So much pepper that the color changes to a reddish color.

It has long puzzled me as to how people can enjoy the pain of eating spicy foods. I am a spicy food addict, and generally need at least one dish a day that makes my tongue burn in pain, and my sweat-glands excrete an abnormal flow of minerals and water. I believe that the addictive quality stems from reactions that your body makes to the pain. When in pain, or under attack, your body releases adrenaline and endorphins, which are natural (well... maybe that's not the right term, but I'm going to use it anyways) pain-killers. So when you eat something spicy, your body releases these chemicals. But, when the temporary effect of the pepper wears off, you are left with the endorphins and adrenaline. Your body likes this feeling, and so, voila, you are now addicted. That is why hot foods can be so addicting. But how could anyone enjoy pain? That, I do not no. I suppose because some of us have higher pain endurance, are tough people, can stand such things, and are generally better than other people. Ok, maybe that's not it, but you never know.

The chemical that makes peppers spicy is called Capsicum, and causes a burning sensation when it comes in contact with mammals (strangely enough, birds are not affected by it). Drinking water will NOT help reduce the pain of spicy things But things high in fats and oils will help (This is because of the molecular structure of the Capsicum).

Now one would think (or at least I would) that all this Capsicum can't be good for your stomach. I mean, isn't it like eating away the stomach liner? On the contrary, peppers have been used for centuries in medicine. Some things peppers (especially red peppers like cayenne peppers) cure (from wikipedia):

* Gastrointestinal tract: including stomachaches, cramping pains, and gas.
* Diseases of the Circulatory System. It is still traditionally used in herbal medicine as a circulatory tonic (a substance believed to improve circulation).
* Rheumatic and arthritic pains: Rubbed on the skin it causes, what is termed as, a counterirritant effect. A counterirritant is something which causes irritation to the area to which it is applied. This makes it distract the nerves from the original irritation (such as joint pain in the case of arthritis).