#1209 Why can some people tolerate spicy food better than other people?

Why can some people tolerate spicy food better than other people? The people who are more able to tolerate spicy food either have fewer taste receptors because of genetics or have desensitized the taste receptors that they do have.

We find food that has capsaicin in it spicy. These are foods such as chili peppers and some spices. The capsaicin attaches to receptors on the tongue and we register that as heat. Mustards are spicy in a different way. Mustards contain a compound called allyl isothiocyanate that vaporizes when it hits your tongue and it is that vapor going up your nose that makes mustards spicy. Because the two types of spiciness are not connected, you can have people who are tolerant of spicy foods, but not tolerant of mustards, and vice versa. You can have people that are not tolerant of either and people who are tolerant of both. It all comes down to genetics and practice.

Our tongues have a pain receptor called TRPV1. TRPV stands for transient receptor potential vanilloid. When they are triggered, they send an electrical signal to the brain, which the brain reads as pain. These receptors are there to detect temperature and they are triggered by temperatures over 43 ℃. They are also triggered by acids and by capsaicin. That is why our mouth feels like it is burning if we put too much vinegar on our chips and when we eat too much chili. The vinegar and the chili are not actually hot, but they activate the receptors in our mouths that are there to detect heat, so we read the pain as a burning pain.

So, why can some people tolerate spicy food better than other people? The first reason comes down to genetics. We are not all the same. Some of us have more of a certain kind of receptor and some of us have fewer. This stands to reason. It is just like vision. Some people have more cones and can see more shades of colors, while some people have more rods and can see more clearly in the dark. Some people have a more delicate sense of touch and some people can smell more complex scents than others. Pain receptors are just the same and if someone is born with fewer TRPV1 pain receptors than other people, then they will not experience as much pain when they eat spicy food. There are some people that don’t feel any pain at all, but this is more of a disease and is a very dangerous condition to have. These people would not be able to feel any heat from a chili.

The second reason is practice. Any kind of pain receptor can become desensitized if you use it too much. Our senses and our pain receptors are there to warn us about things and to give us a sense of the world around. However, we cannot continue to experience the same feeling and the receptors get tired out. If you hear a loud sound, it will hurt your ears to begin with, but as time goes on, it won’t hurt anymore and, after a while, you might not even hear it anymore. We become desensitized to sensation. The same is true with the pain receptors in the mouth. The first time you eat spicy food, the capsaicin will bind to them and send painful signals to your brain. However, if you keep eating spicy food regularly, the signals will become fewer and fewer because your brain will stop reacting to them. The signals will still be sent, they just won’t have the same effect. This happens with addiction as well. Smokers need more and more nicotine because it doesn’t have the same effect on the brain with continued use. The more spicy food you eat, the more you will be able to eat.

The receptors in the tongue aren’t the only ones that will be dulled with practice. When you eat spicy food, you sweat, itch, get a runny nose, cough, and hiccup. All of these things are reactions to the capsaicin and will get better with practice. We sweat because the capsaicin triggers the heat receptors in the tongue and the brain thinks it is overheating. Sweating is the natural response to overheating. We cough because the capsaicin irritates the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat. We itch because the burning feeling in the mouth creates a tingling sensation that can run up onto the scalp. We get hiccups because the capsaicin goes into the throat and the lungs want to get rid of it. They trigger the diaphragm to contract, expelling the capsaicin, and causing hiccups. And we get a runny nose and tears because the irritated mucous membranes produce more mucus, which is basically fluid, to wash out your nose and eyes. And this is what I learned today.

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Sources

https://www.allrecipes.com/why-are-foods-spicy-for-some-but-not-others-7562566