The science behind spice

this project will demonstrate the effects of spice and what is actually happening in your mouth when eating spicy food.
Aiden Brown
Grade 7

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that the cause of sweat while eating spicy food is because the trip-v1 receptors on your tongue are reacting to the capsaicin in the food you are eating and start telling your brain that there is heat in your mouth and the brains default reaction is to sweat as you would in a hot area.

Research

  • The feeling or "pain" of spice is caused by the capsaicin molecules attaching to the Trip v-1 receptors on your tongue and other parts of your body,
  • The Trip v-1 receptors do not only detect spice they also detect heat and acidity,
  • A common example of how to counteract spice is with cow's milk because it has casein
  • The trip v-1 receptors are telling our brain that our mouth is “on fire” when really we are just experiencing the sensation of spice,
  • Many people think spicy food is bad but it has actually been proven to have many health benefits such as: improved immune system, improved digestion, better heart health, reduction of cancer risk, ect.
  • Capsaicin is also packed with antioxidants and anti-inflamints,
  • Spiciness is measured on a scale called the scoville scale, for example a bell pepper is 0 scovilles but as of 2023 the hottest pepper is called pepper x. This is a man made pepper made by cross breeding the carolina reaper, this pepper stands at 2 693 000 scoville units!
  • The reason you sweat while eating spicy food is because the capcaicin in the food triggers the trip V-1 receptors and your body will start to sweat to try and cool it down.

Variables

Variables in my research include:

  • different products have different levels of spice,
  • different people have different levels of tolerance to spice,
  • inconsistencies in product manufacuring ,
  • inconsistentcies in amount of spice while making food,

Procedure

my procedure is going to mainly be research and testing few examples on myself, such as counteracting the spice.

Observations

observations from research: I observed in my research that spice has many health benifits that are overlooked by many people. I also observed that spice can be naturrally grown or even human made by cross-breeding different peppers.

Observations from my experiments: I observed through testing different spice products that all spice depends on your tolerance and your intake of it. When I was eating spicy foods i found that the more i ate the more it destracted from it but the second I swallow it all kicks in. When I would try different things to counter act itIi found that an ice cube would make it more bearable for a short amount of time and then the spice would rush back to my mouth but with slightly less of a kick, but when I drank milk it would have more of a bigger impact on the spice thanks to the casein.

Analysis

Conclusion

In colcusion I learned that spice is a chemical reaction and not an actual physical feeling. Spice is found in many things just some are more noticable than others. It is also can be used to make your immune system better and other benifits such as: incresed metabolism, better digestion, a healthier heart and lower cancer risk.

Application

This information can be applied in real life by teaching people the benifits of spicy food and how to counteract it if they struggle with spice.

Sources Of Error

A source of error I had was not mesuring the levels of spice in the food before testing it.

Acknowledgement

Attachments

No Log Book Provided