hi everybody here. just dropped in after finding this site in google.com and i would like too know if too much chilli peppers can iritate your stomach and be bad for your health. could eating dorset naggas and habanero peppers hurt you in anyway.

eating food high in chillies gives rise to a condition called 'intestinal rush', but it is short lived, thankfully. There are no ill effects from eating chillies. The sensation of burning is only from certain mucosal areas and tips of the fingers, and only gives the impression of burning, there is no actual trauma.

However, continuous munching on chillies leads to a desensitization to chilli heat, which might be considered a benefit; personally I like the burn, in moderation.

Lapis in the other post about chilies you mentioned - "capsaicin is not an oil, it is a white crystalline solid when pure, and very hazardous" Wouldn't that mean that eating too much chilli would create a build up in the body which might be dangerous, or are the amounts just not possible ?

Steve

I was slicing a chilli pepper the other day when some juice squirted into my eye. I rinsed my eye with cold water, but was obviously not quick enough as it was still stinging for quite some time. Goodness knows how bad it would have been if I hadn't rinsed it

Perhaps it would be better to wash out the eye with milk?

I read the 'wipes' the US ambulances carry with them for people hit by pepper spray are basically milk solids in alcohol. Perhaps the lesson is to carry a hip flask of Baileys with you if you are intent on going out demonstrating!

Winton

Water doesn't get rid of chillies. Someone told me that washing with chilled milk is better, not sure. Lapis would know.

you are correct, Mamta.

The capsaicin is not soluble in water, but is in oil, and to some extent in alcohol.

The sensation of heat is caused by the capsaicin molecule locating in the VR1 receptor in mucosal areas of the body, which then unlock a calcium channel, which results in messages being sent to the brain, telling it we are being burnt, which we aren't of course.

So the last thing you would want is something with calcium in it, like milk, curds, milk solids, etc. They seem to work because they are generally cold.

I have found the most effective antidote for chillies is powdered sugar, even sugar substitute works!

I was talking to people at the Dartmoor chilli farm in Exeter on my recent hols, and we discussed this very thing. I bought some 'hot as h*ll' chilli sauce from them, which I found quite mild, hope I'm not getting de-sensitized to them!!

"I have found the most effective antidote for chillies is powdered sugar, even sugar substitute works!"

Ah, my late father would agree with you Lapis. When we were kids, we were told to have sugar if we ever burnt our mouth. He was a sugar chemist.

is this in any way connected to chewing gum until it looses its flavour then taking a little sugar and the flavour comes back ?

Steve

I don't know Steve, but the workings of the tongue are complex, I'm sure. What we have just eaten affects the next mouthful, something which is rarely taken into account when moving from one course to another or even from one dish to another!!

So hence the palate cleansers in up-market restaurants, like lemon sorbet. Though a glass of water with a slice of lemon would be just as effective?

Winton

the water with the lemon in it is the finger bowl! LOL!

Isn't there an age old story of the Queen taking sips from a finger bowl after a guest had made the faux pas of drinking from his, so he would not be embarrassed.

Winton

Interesting, but in if it worked in it's raw or cooked form, chilli eaters will have very low incidence of cancer. Mrs. Wu must be looking at some compound found in chillies.

reference to calcium channels suggest the 'hot' component in chillies, capsaicin, and its analogues. These calcium channels are associated with Vanillin Receptors (VR1) found in moist parts of the body, usually.

I must mention that cancer cells are often thought of as diseased cells, whereas in reality, they are very healthy, reproduce rapidly (in three dimensions rather than the usual two) and don't contain the 'suicide sack' found in normal cells which leads to apoptosis. Therefore to treat cancer cells, one must attack very healthy, virilant cells, which is not easy!