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El Gibbon

Love spicy food? Thank the bugs
Posted: 10:03 AM ET
Ever wonder why chili peppers are hot, and why some are hotter than others? Well, new research shows the credit goes to insects and microbes.
GETTY IMAGES/AFP





Researchers at the University of Washington, along with colleagues from Florida and Bolivia, found that some peppers develop that heat to fight a seed-eating fungus that attacks through holes made by insects. The chili doesn’t want the fungus to consume the seeds; it much prefers that birds cozy up to the seed smorgasboard. When birds eat seeds, they disperse them, allowing them to sprout. When fungi chow down, the seed just dies.
So why don’t birds object to the spiciness? The researchers say the birds’ physiology is not designed to sense the burn.
The scientists studied chili peppers across 1,000 square miles in Bolivia. They found that plants in areas with more of the seed-destroying fungus produced more capsaicin, the substance that gives the peppers their heat.
Another interesting tidbit from the researchers — the capsaicin could be the reason humans starting eating the painful fruit in the first place. Lead author Joshua Tewksbury says back before there was refrigeration, people probably used the peppers when they found that spicy stews were less likely to make them sick.
The study was published this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Diane Hawkins-Cox, Senior Producer, CNN Sci-Tech Unit




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E. G.

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tsicar

could this be the reason the thais do not get sick when they eat pork or chicken that has been sweating in the sun for a few days, or the rotten fish that they are so fond of?
makes sense.

Mr Earl

I eat a lot of of chile here. When I order a fried rice I ask for extra priknampla and pick the little chile peppers out and leave the fish sauce. I like somtam which makes you sweat and gasp from the heat of the chile.
I rarely get sick. I travel around the country a bunch and eat at the cheap Thai places all the time.
I get a little endorphin buzz from eating hot chile peppers, it's addictive.

While the chile peppers might burn going in and coming out they're actually very good for your digestive track.

tsicar

chilles ARE addictive, and for the very reason you just quoted.
they are probably the only thing which is both addictive AND really good for you.
i cannot eat anything without dousing it in copious amounts of chillie, be they whole, chopped, dried, ground, made into sauce. contrary to what non-spicy eaters think, chillies do not disguise the flavour of the food, rather enhances it, similar to what salt does.
TIP: try keep a roll of toilet paper in the refrigerator for the more serious "afterburn" mornings!
cheers!

The Gentleman Scamp

Chillis/spicy food - grows on you I think, I am getting more and more used to it. I am pleased to hear they are good for cleaning out your system but I wouldn't want to consume a load and be too far from a toilet.

Mr Earl

TIP: Water is the only thing which soothes and dissipates exit burns
Cool rain water is the best.