How do spices burn

Paul Rozin at the University of Pennsylvania , argue that the beneficial effects are too small to explain the great human love of chili-spiced food. But he has evidence for what he calls benign masochism. For example, he tested chili eaters by gradually increasing the pain, or, as the pros call it, the pungency, of the food, right up to the point at which the subjects said they just could not go further.

But here's the question I'm interested in: Why does spicy food taste "hot"? After all, a chili pepper at room temperature will still "burn" our tongue and cause us to sweat.

We'll crave ice-cold water and wave our hands frantically in front of our face. To answer this question, we need to investigate the physiology of taste. It turns out that capsaicin - the active ingredient in spicy food - binds to a special class of vanilloid receptor inside our mouth called VR1 receptors. After capsaicin binds to these receptors, the sensory neuron is depolarized, and it sends along a signal indicating the presence of spicy stimuli.

But here's the strange part: VR1 receptors weren't designed to detect capsaicin. There may be heat-seeking personalities. It's possible to train your tongue.

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That leaves your poop laced with spicy particles, and helps explain why it burns when you poop. This burning poop sensation can happen to anyone, but it's often worse in people who have certain gastrointestinal issues to begin with.

So "make sure you don't have other things going on that would predispose you to being more sensitive," says Bruno P. Chumpitazi, M. So spicy foods can engender pain and discomfort. Hot foods can also be challenging for people with hemorrhoids or anal fissures, says Dr. Those fissures are just like they sound—little tears which tend to be caused by constipation and sometimes even by diarrhea.

Of course, not eating spicy foods is one way to go. But if you're not going to do that we're with you on that , try these strategies:. Limit spicy foods that are both spicy and fatty, like chicken wings or quesadillas smothered in hot sauce. Excess fat can be a problem because the bile salts your body uses to digest them can irritate the skin around your anus, says Brooks D.

Cash, M. Cash suggests. That helps bind the spice up into your poop so it won't burn so much on the way out, explains Sameer Islam, M.