The science behind Capsaicin

As soon as we take our first bite of spicy food,we feel as our mouth is on fire. This is due to a compound present in the hot peppers called capsaicin. Capsaicin binds with specific heat receptors in our mouth known as vanilloid receptor 1. These are the same receptor that tell our brain when we on fire. Since these receptors cannot able to differentiate capsaicin and heat and can be activated by both. This made our brain to believe that we literally on fire and thus causes burning sensation on our mouth when we eat spicy foods. Hot peppers increase our core body temperature in a process called thermogenesis. To lower the body temperature, our brain tells the body to release the extra heat and thus causes sweating. And also our blood vessel send more blood to the skin as the heat easily radiates, hence our face or hands are red when we eat more spicy foods. The saliva are produces more than the normal, because our mouth releases more salivas to remove the capsaicin present on our mouth. It may also cause intestinal problems, as the capsaicin also binds with the pain receptors present on our stomach. Hence our stomach contracts forcefully to remove capsaicin. Hence, these contractions can cause pain.