Putting out the Fire

     I've been home now for about a week and that's how long it has taken for my digestive tract to return to normal after sampling some of the hot stuff at the Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show in Albuquerque.  And I was careful to avoid the real nasty stuff with names like Death Nectar and Molten.  All chile peppers contain an ingredient called capsaicin measured on the Scoville scale.  And while it provides flavor and spiciness to foods, it can also cause an uncomfortable burning sensation.  It can severely affect both the skin and the body's mucous membranes.  It's the prime ingredient in pepper spray and if you've ever gotten too close to it you know how debilitating it can be.

     The pain can be excruciating, and while it doesn't actually physically burn, it imparts the sensation of heat, thanks to the capsaicinoid compound that is a very strong alkaline oil.  It works by binding itself to the body's pain receptors.

     So how do you put out the pain?  Many folk remedies abound.  Some work, and others do not.  Rinse your mouth with sugar water or vegetable oil, brush your teeth with white toothpaste, down a shot of whiskey, take a dose of Pepto Bismal:  just a few bits of advice people will give.  When I mentioned to the car rental agent at the airport why I was in town, she recommended a preventative swig of honey to coat my mouth, throat and insides.  Others say the cure is to eat a cucumber, a banana, chocolate, an apple or a raw carrot.  Combining the hot food with rice, bread, potatoes or something salty has also been advocated, as has drinking tomato juice or a mouthful of ketchup.  Suck on a lemon or lime.

     To get an authoritative answer I went to About.com and discovered that since capsaicin is an alkaline the only effective way to counteract it is with something acidic.  Don't think battery acid but rather something on the low end of the pH scale, like lemonade, orange juice or milk.  The protein casein in milk products (cottage cheese, yogurt, sour cream and ice cream) acts as a natural detergent that breaks up the heat inducing capsaicin.  And the higher the fat content in the milk product the more effective the result.  "In other words, sour cream or ice cream will help you more than skim milk."

     And to a lesser effect combining starchy carbohydrates will also reduce the burn by providing a physical barrier between the mouth and the alkaline oil.  Water is pretty much ineffectual.  It neither dissolves nor dilutes but in reality spreads the burn along the route.  Alcohol doesn't work well either.  While it may dissolve the offending oil it doesn't neutralize it, but like water spreads it around.  The only way it relieves the pain is when an individual drinks him/herself into oblivion and sufficiently dulls the pain receptors.  But then you have another problem to deal with later.

     About those folk remedies?  Yes, tomato juice and ketchup work, as does milk.  And so does sucking on a lemon or lime wedge.  But keep in mind that foods containing capsaicin will inevitably burn you twice.