Capsaicin addiction?

[Pan]

[...]If you think you are addicted to hotness, you may well be. Research studies show that the burning sensation caused by capsaicin is addictive. This substance, which stimulates pain receptors scattered in the mouth cavity, causes the brain to release endorphins, which are natural painkillers, and creates a slight sense of euphoria.[...]

Look here for the rest of the article:

Chili out there? No, just hot

[eje]

Eating very hot peppers creates an illusion of heat, deriving from the stimulation by the capsaicin of the nerve endings in the esophagus. Afterward the substance reaches the brain and then, in effect, it causes a slight decline in body temperature (for the information of those who do not have an air conditioner). People who love hotness become addicted to these sensations.

I hate to be too much of a stickler; but, this isn't entirely accurate.

Your body has a number of ways in which it detects heat, cold, and other changes in the external environment.

When it detects a change in temperature, say heat, specialized cells produce a certain chemical. This chemical then binds with receptors in your nerve endings, sort of like a key in a keyhole. The nerves then convey a signal to the brain which it interprets as heat.

Researchers believe Capsaicin has a similar shape to the chemical your body produces when it detects heat. It binds to the nerve receptors, causing the nerves to relay the signal of heat to your brain. Capsaicin does not, "reach the brain".

Menthol binds to your body's cold receptors in a similar way.

Edited December 19, 2005 by eje (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Doesn't "addiction" also imply that you can have a chemical dependency? I've never heard of anyone having major withdrawal symptoms from stopping eating chile-laden food.

[jsolomon]

Actually, that's fairly accurate to how it works. When pain receptors are activated, soon the brain starts to release endorphins and similar chemicals (dophamine is another) that help us deal with the pain.

Technical overview under heading "Capsaicin, Endorphins, Pain, and Pleasure: How they all relate "

Edit to add: it's more like the people are adrenaline junkies, like cyclocross racers, rubgy players, Hash House Harriers, good EMT's, and extreme sports athletes.

Of course, if I were told that I couldn't eat chiles anymore, I'd probably go on a crying jag and get really clinically depressed for a while. Does that count?

Edited December 19, 2005 by jsolomon (log)

[eje]

From the linked website

Chilies were first discovered by Christopher Columbus after a journey to India.

Hate to be all Politically Correct and all; but, geez, when will people stop saying things in the new world were "discovered" by Europeans? Besides, it should be "West Indies" not "India". Chilies are a New World fruit, and were unknown in Asia or Europe until Columbus (and others) brought them back and started passing them around.

[Patrick S]

Researchers believe Capsaicin has a similar shape to the chemical your body produces when it detects heat.  It binds to the nerve receptors, causing the nerves to relay the signal of heat to your brain.  Capsaicin does not, "reach the brain".

←

Right, and even if it did reach the brain, it couldn't exert an effect, because there are not vanilloid receptors in the brain (capsaicin is an agonist for that receptor). I'm agnostic about the issue, though I admit Ive never seen or known anyone who ate chilis compulsively. However, if capsaicin can in fact raise the serum endorphins, which are active in the brain, by interactions with vanilloid receptors outside the brain, perhaps it is theoretically possible that it could produce dependency? I've met people in psychiatric settings who seemed literally addicted to cutting themselves. Maybe that would be a better analogue than cocaine or opiate addiction.

EDITED FOR CORRECTION: Contrary to what I said above, there are reports of vanilloid receptors in the brain, expressed at low levels.

Edited December 19, 2005 by Patrick S (log)

[Pan]

From the linked website

Chilies were first discovered by Christopher Columbus after a journey to India.

Hate to be all Politically Correct and all; but, geez, when will people stop saying things in the new world were "discovered" by Europeans? Besides, it should be "West Indies" not "India". Chilies are a New World fruit, and were unknown in Asia or Europe until Columbus (and others) brought them back and started passing them around.

←

You're quite right, of course. It was when people first came across chilis in the Americas that chilis were "first discovered," and that was obviously many thousands of years before Columbus showed up in Hispaniola. But who wants to mess up a good story about a trip to India.

[jsolomon]

From the linked website

Chilies were first discovered by Christopher Columbus after a journey to India.

Hate to be all Politically Correct and all; but, geez, when will people stop saying things in the new world were "discovered" by Europeans? Besides, it should be "West Indies" not "India". Chilies are a New World fruit, and were unknown in Asia or Europe until Columbus (and others) brought them back and started passing them around.

←

You're quite right, of course. It was when people first came across chilis in the Americas that chilis were "first discovered," and that was obviously many thousands of years before Columbus showed up in Hispaniola. But who wants to mess up a good story about a trip to India.

←

Oh, come on. I'm sure the natives were wandering around wondering what they could eat (they had been there for several thousands of years, but hadn't discovered anything there--not even the land!). So they ask Christopher Columbus, "Hey, Chris! Are these things good to eat?" Christopher Columbus promptly bends down, plucks the fruit from an haban~ero pepper, and pops it into his mouth.

"Delicious!" he proclaimed.

The natives wept for joy, for they were saved from thousands of years of hunger with Christopher Columbus's discovery.

[Jason Perlow]

"Delicious!" he proclaimed.

Nah... It was probably more like.. MOTHERF!@#$ER!

[Human Bean]

Complete and utter rubbish - any article that can't even get Christopher Columbus right has zero credibility anyway.

I mean, sure, you could say that I started with 'gateway drugs' like sriracha and Tabasco, then moved to the harder stuff like thai birds and habaneros, but you'd be an idiot.

I'm not hooked, no way, no how; get real. I can quit any time I want. I'll definitely quit immediately after my death, for instance.

BTW, got any sambal oelek? I need a fix...

[OTOH, I would almost agree about compulsive runners - most of them are so skinny they look like junkies anyway.]

Edit: clarification?

Edited December 19, 2005 by Human Bean (log)