The chemicals that make food spicy don't target taste receptors, but rather temperature receptors in the tongue.
Not everyone likes it hot. That's because eating spicy food can literally be a painful experience, which raises some questions: What makes certain foods spicy, and why do only some people like them?
Capsaicin fits into a temperature receptor on the tongue called TRPV1. Normally, TRPV1 is set off by temperatures around 104 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. But when we eat something spicy with capsaicin, the molecule binds to the receptors and lowers their activation energy. In other words, capsaicin tricks the receptor into sending burning signals to the brain at just 91 F , Hayes said.
How the risk-reward experience plays out in the brain is still a mystery. One researcher called spicy food's allure "constrained risk" and"benign masochism." But there isn't any neuroimaging or data to confirm the exact mechanisms in the brain for either of these ideas, Hayes said.
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