#1306 – Capsaicin
Posted on June 21, 2011 at 12:00 am by Chris
Chapter: Comics
I think the whole milk vs. hot peppers thing is fairly common knowledge. I wonder if people that are lactose intolerant have a backup plan. If you trick someone that is lactose intolerant into eating something like a Scotch bonnet and then present them with a tall glass of milk would they trade their future discomfort for immediate relief?
Today’s Maximumble makes the cut.
Tags: bathtub, burning, milk
Now that’s just an evil suggestion… I like it…
*insert evil laughter here*
Being a lover of really hot chilly and lactose intollerent I can answer you question…
I trained myself to handle really hot chillies so that I would not have to face this dilema! But on the rare occasion where I find something that is simply too hot, then milk is the better of the two options.
And as a final note my dad did this to me when I was a child. Told me to eat a REALLY hot raw chilli, which I did. The result was not pretty.
Supposedly, bread is also a viable alternative. I also hear that if you eat enough of the Spicy, the capsaicin will numb your mouth, making it temporarily immune to the Spicy for the duration of the meal.
I have not tested either of these theories personally, since I try to avoid the Spicy whenever possible.
I like how his tub has toenails.
Sugar also helps, I’ve found.
The answer for those who can’t drink milk is to eat rice. Rice is served with curry for this reason. It’s not AS effective as milk but it works.
Or, be like me and drink goat milk. Mmm goat milk.
when i was little i once ate a whole jalapeno … but i didn’t drink milk afterwards because i didn’t know that it was a remedy for spiciness so i drank water bad it was a bad idea the water spread the capsaicin all over my mouth i just shrugged it off.
I love milk, but I don’t need it when I eat chilli.
In fact, water always seems just as good as milk for me. I know it triggers the reaction to begin with, but water cools the sensation nonetheless. So either water works too well or milk doesn’t work at all.
I like banana and coconut when there’s no milk or water. Or just banana. Works as well.
Do Biff’s eyebrows ever get wet? I’m imagining Biff with floppy eyebrows. It’s a depressing image.
~Gwid
I’m lactose intolerant, but I also like spicy food. Water doesn’t help the situation (in fact it makes it worse) but other alcohols, like vodka or the like, do help by simply making you ignore the problem (and everything else) entirely. It has to be something really insanely spicy for me to need relief from it though, my mother cooks things and insists they’re spicy, but I rarely, if ever, taste the spiciness.
As some already said, rice and bread work, too. You might wonder why water doesn’t work. The reason is capsaicin is hydrophobic and will thus not we ‘washed away’ by water. Bread and rice on the other hand can absorb oily stuff almost as well as watery stuff and can thus transport it away from the sensitive tongue.
Why does milk work, then? It contains proteins that can dilute capsaicin. Even more effective (but maybe less tasty) is oil.
Bread dipped in olive oil – The capsaicin attaches to the oil and is carried away. If you’re not lactose intollerant, buttered bread is better than milk.
@Mark; It *IS* a proper claw-footed tub, after all. 😛
Soymilk works just as well!
“would they trade their future discomfort for immediate relief?” – I think this is how Jigsaw got his start.
Old Mexican wives’ tale, perhaps (I know _I_ heard it from an old Mexican wife) that _salt_ helps cut the heat. So, the Negro Modelo or even Corona, the lime wedge, the salt (or a Margarita!)
Easy solutions: They make lactose free milk, very tasty. Also lactate is sold over the counter. It helps you digest lactose naturally. One more solution is to eat live culture yogurt 2 or 3 times a week. It’ll give you bacteria that digest lactose.
Does anybody else wonder where the peppers were to prompt a milk bath?
@ Psychlycan – No, but now I am. o.0
@Psychlycan; I was deliberately avoiding that question…
Yes actually, we who are lactose intolerant DO have an alternative. 2 in fact(at least in my case). The first is Lactaid milk, but I know that’s not always available. My second alternative is either juice or soda. It ain’t the best thing, but it helps
Reminds me of someone I knew who was allergic to chocolate. I said, “Wow! It must be awful to never eat chocolate.” And he replied, “No. I eat cholocate. I just get sick afterward. But I still eat it.”
@Psychlycan well what goes in must come out
Citrus also helps. Since milk is a base (just like the oil in peppers) it essentially washes away the oil, but the acidity of citrus neutralizes it.
The answer is salt. Pouring salt on your tounge, if you don’t over do it, causes a reaction with the peppery burning sensation, causing it to lessen or go away.
Am i the only one noticing the ominous clawed-paw underneath the bath-tub?
Reminds me of the recent bout of cravendale adverts..
Gargle with vinegar. Or maybe you have to use lye? Peppers are acidic so you want to use something base.
Me, I try to avoid spicy foods because I don’t want to build resistance. Before you know it you end up like the Watchers in Fringe, spreading an entire pepper shaker on a sandwich in order to feel any flavor.
I made some chilli chocolate with Naga Jolokia Chillis – Quite hot, nice and cruel to some, delicious and entertaining.
Milk had no effect on the heat, it stopped people from talking but we discovered bananas are quite effective at the cooling phase.
We also make up some chilli pop corn with same stuff. Receipes on my site (if interested)
I just eat more spicy stuff
I like spicy
Here we are from the random Facts of the Did You Know- eating a spoonful of sugar will completely neutralize the spicy flavor.