WEBVTT - Can Spicy Foods Make Us Live Longer? 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:03.080 Guess we bengo with that. Well, you're probably not gonna 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:05.120 be surprised to hear this, but I think I'm ready 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.280 for another spice. Really yeah, I've been training. I'm serious 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:11.400 about this now, listeners. So you know, Mango and I 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:14.960 both love spicy foods. It almost took professional help for 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.040 me to break my unhealthy addiction to jalapeno kettle chips 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.840 was a few years ago. Of course, I just traded 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.040 it out for another habit, and so now I eat 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:26.160 at least a couple of atomic fireballs every day. That's 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.000 probably an understatement. Maybe there's four or five. But when 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.520 it comes to eating spicy food, I always think I'm 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.839 a spice champ until I eat with Mango. So we'll 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.080 go to an Indian or a Sechuan place, will ard 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.880 up a few dishes with some extra spice. Our food 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:43.360 comes up, and that's when the sweating starts. It's so 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:46.680 irritating because I love the spiciness, I honestly do. But 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:49.400 you will be over there downing all this crazy spicy stuff, 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:52.080 even requesting these extra spice bombs like you do with 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.920 the Ramen place, and it doesn't seem to affect you 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:57.720 at all. Meanwhile, ten minutes in, I look like I've 0:00:57.760 --> 0:01:01.000 just finished a marathon. It's ridiculous. Well, I mean, I'm 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:02.800 told you it doesn't matter, right, it's just as long 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.160 as you enjoy the food. Yeah, but the wait staff 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.039 always seems concerned, and you just look at them. It's 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.720 like you guys have the secret unspoken language. Will just 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:14.280 not and with that simple nod, it's as if you're saying, like, 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:18.200 it's okay, he's fine, he's just from Alabama, not India. 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:20.560 And then they look at you and they not as 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:23.000 if to say, we felt pretty safe and assuming he's 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.360 not from India, But are you sure he's okay? I mean, 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:28.560 just look at him over there. It's amazing this language 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:30.960 that you guys have. You look back as if to say, 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:34.319 trust me, he's fine. This happens every time. But if 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:36.200 you have a couple of bath towels, you know, one 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.240 for his forehead and one to soak up the pool 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:40.319 on the floor, that that that would be great. Well, 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.720 I'm pretty sure that's all in your head. We don't 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.480 have any sort of secret language. But I do have 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:46.959 these cards printed up. That's a what you're about to 0:01:46.959 --> 0:01:50.840 see is them pretty but don't panic. That's thoughtful of you. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.000 But either way, we both love spicy food and the 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.640 science of spicy food is fascinating to both of us. 0:01:56.680 --> 0:01:59.600 So we had so many questions going into this episode. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.880 How did humans evolved to enjoy spicy food, what does 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:06.200 it predict about our personalities if we enjoy that spicy kick? 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.239 And is there any evidence that eating spicy foods could 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:37.680 help us live longer? So let's get started. Hey there, 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:40.360 podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:42.640 and as always I'm joined by my good friend Mangesh 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:44.720 how Ticketer and on the other side of the soundproof 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:47.600 glass demonstrating just how well he can take the heat, 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.920 that's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Now, I really 0:02:50.960 --> 0:02:53.480 do wish our listeners could see this, because Tristan's assembled 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.320 this spicy food feast for the ages here. I mean, 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:58.240 look at this stuff that he's eating. He's got an 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.880 order of drunken noodles, a Sishwan hot pot, a bowl 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:06.320 of five alarm chili, a pile of ghost pepper chicken wings. 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.520 I mean, it's ridiculous, and he's just going to town 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.480 on all of this. Guy is a machine. I honestly 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:13.800 feel he's just like showing off at this point. I 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.160 feel like you should have, like that cartoon, steam coming 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.880 out of his ears, but he hasn't even broken a sweat. 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.440 It is a little bit eerie. Well all right. You know, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:24.600 while most people enjoy adding at least a little spice 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.080 to their meals, some can definitely handle the heat better 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.040 than others. So we'll take a look at why that 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:30.760 is a little bit later in the show. But to 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.280 kick things off, I thought we should talk about what 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.720 makes spicy foods taste hot in the first place, or really, 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.200 I should say what makes us think that spicy foods 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.480 taste hot, Because you might remember from one of our 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.320 earlier episodes, the one we did on the science of flavor, 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:47.760 spicy isn't really a taste at all. In reality, the 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:50.760 burning sensations we feel from spicy foods, those are the 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:53.480 result of our sense of touch, rather than from taste 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.400 or smell. Yeah, I remember involvest like some sort of 0:03:56.520 --> 0:03:58.960 chemical trickery, right, Like it has something to do with 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:02.320 how kept satan interacts with our touch receptors. Yeah, that's right. 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:04.520 So kept satan, of course, is the chemical and the 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:06.920 seeds and the tissue of the chili peppers that gives 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.240 them their heat. And you know, pepper plants actually evolve 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:12.600 kept satan as a protective measure, and this was to 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.480 help them, you know, protect them against animals and insects 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:18.720 so they can have a better shot at dispersing their seeds. So, 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.520 for instance, when humans and other mammals eat chili peppers, 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.279 we tend to make it so the seeds can't be 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.640 germinated later when we inevitably part ways with them and 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.160 we grind the seeds too much with our molars, or 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:32.280 else we destroy them completely in our harsh digestive tracks. 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.320 So as a deterrent to this, pepper plants started producing 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.919 a chemical that activates these special touch receptors, and they 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.719 found all over the inner layer of our skin and 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:45.000 that includes our mouths now. This receptor is called trip 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:47.880 V one, and it's the body's early warning system for 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.320 hot temperatures. So think about if you sit on the 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:52.880 sun too long and your skin starts to burn a little, 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:55.080 or when your hand grazes the hot stove and you 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:57.719 know to pull it away really quickly. That's trip V 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.880 one at work. And this is where the chemical trickery 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.159 that you mentioned comes in because kept sastan actually works 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.120 by lowering the energy needed to activate those trip V 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.640 one defenses. So, while these receptors would typically read any 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.520 mouth temperature over a hundred and nine degrees fahrenheit as 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.240 a burn, once they've bonded with KEP sasan anything higher 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:21.600 than nine three degrees fahrenheit registers as dangerously hot. So 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.640 that's interesting. But I mean, the average mouth temperature for 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.360 humans is ninety eight point six, So kep sason actually 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.280 makes these receptors think your whole mouth is burning. Yeah, 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.120 that's exactly what happens, and that's why sometimes feels like 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.000 your entire mouth is on fire when you eat something spicy, 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.080 because you know, as far as your brain knows it, 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.800 it actually is. So then if we have these touch 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:42.920 receptors all over our body and not just in our mouths, 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:44.719 why don't we feel like our skin is burning anytime 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:47.080 we touch a chili pepper. Remember we're talking about the 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:49.880 inner layer of our skin that has these receptors, so 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.320 we can really only feel the burn of the peppers 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:54.880 on areas where our outer skin layer is thin enough 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:57.599 for that cap sason to get through. So the mouth 0:05:57.720 --> 0:05:59.880 is obviously one of the places the eyes are and 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.600 other and that's why you're never supposed to touch your 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.320 eyes after you've been handling chili peppers. And there are 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:07.760 also a few other thin skinned places that we don't 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.240 have the name here, but you can probably use your 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.800 imagination for these. Yeah. I actually remember reading this old 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:18.280 Hungarian proverb about how good paprika burns twice, so I 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:19.800 think I know where you're getting at. I love how 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:21.200 you always try to find a way to use a 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.640 Hungarian proverb, but I should mention that it's not just 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:28.479 kept station that triggers this false flag burning sensation. You know. 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.080 Research also shows that trippy one receptors also respond to 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:36.120 other quote unquote hot foods, including black pepper and ginger. 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.039 And there's also trip a one that so called was 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.479 sabi receptor, and that's activated by a certain oil that's 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:47.040 found in foods like horseradish and mustards, onions, garlic, cinnamon, 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.599 and of course with sabi. I like how, at first 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:51.480 class it seems like all those plants have come up 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.560 with this genius way of making themselves unpalatable to mammals. 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:56.760 But then when you think about it. There's this one 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.520 stubborn species that doesn't seem to have gotten the memo right, 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:03.719 and humans, like, we love our spicy foods, and we 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:05.680 even have contest just to see how much heat we 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.800 can stomach. It's weird that we do these things that 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.240 cause pain, or at least make us think that we're 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.360 in pain. It is pretty strange when you when you 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:15.600 think about it. But there was this one researcher who 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.120 was a professor of psychology. His name was Paul Rosen. 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.880 This was back in the nineteen eighties, and he actually 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.760 proved that there is a connection between thrill seeking and 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:28.000 eating spicy foods. So here's how rose inputs it. He says, humans, 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.880 and only humans, seem to get pleasure out of innately 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:34.400 negative experiences when they are aware that the body signals 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:36.960 are not really threatening. There's a term for it. He 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:40.680 calls it benign masochism. And it's the same inclination that 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:42.960 makes it fun to write a rollercoaster or watch a 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.200 scary movie. I mean, all these things provoke these real 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.680 biological responses in our bodies, but since we know at 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:53.000 some level there's no real danger, the end result is 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.200 actually a pleasurable feeling rather than this purely painful one. 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.200 So I actually read up on where that pleasure stems 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:01.480 from and the it was pretty surprising because it turns 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.840 out while men and women both enjoy spicy foods, the 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.200 reason why they do it are completely different. So for women, 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.960 research shows that they simply like the burning sting that 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.880 spicy foods provide. And since cap sasan has been known 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:16.520 to trigger the release of endorphins, you know, maybe that's 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.640 not so surprising, right, it makes you feel good. But men, 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:21.600 on the other hand, tend to partake in spicy foods 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:24.520 because they like the attention. And bro, we like attention. 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:28.160 We love that spotlight. So there's no denying that. Downing 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:30.160 a whole plate of like hot wings, you know it's 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:32.200 going to get you some street cred in some circles. 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:35.319 And our culture actually views being able to withstand spicy 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:37.640 foods as a sign of strength and the lust for 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.560 that kind of like social glory that seems to drive 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.760 male spicy food fans more than anything else. Well, that 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:45.280 actually makes sense in a a lot of a study I 0:08:45.320 --> 0:08:48.040 was reading about from a few years ago. The researchers 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.440 at the University of Grenoble, and they got together a 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.319 hundred and fourteen men, and they brought them together in 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:55.360 a testing lab and had them sit down to a 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:59.920 meal of mashed potatoes and hot sauce. I don't know why, calm, 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:01.600 I don't know why it need to be mashed potatoes, 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.679 but actually I would do this, But how much hot 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:07.400 sauce was to be used was completely up to the participants. Now, 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:09.360 in the end, the men who used the most were 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.839 also the ones with the highest levels of testosterone. Not 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.960 only that, but those who have the spiciest palettes also 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:21.200 shared tendencies toward social dominance, aggression, and risk taking, all 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:24.400 of which have been linked already to high testosterone. It's 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:26.120 kind of crazy how much of a predictor if someone's 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.959 personality can be for whether or not they like spicy foods. 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.720 Like appriendly people who are into action movies and really 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.160 adventurous hobbies are six times more likely to enjoy hot 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:37.920 foods than those who prefer tamor pastimes. Which is why 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.160 I know you were not part of this study, because 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:43.160 I know you love spicy foods. But if I think 0:09:43.160 --> 0:09:46.000 about all the movies you've recommended over the years, the 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.400 ones that had the most action in them were probably 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:53.400 I don't know, like Rushmore and Amalie maybe having like 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.920 the least action packed movies ever. So I do love 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:00.080 to read those descriptions of like aggression and dominance and 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.280 all that. So there's something great about it. I worked 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.400 in this Italian restaurant where all the white staff was Mexican, 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:07.600 and they were doing this thing where they got these 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:09.960 cucumbers and they put all the spice on it, and 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.520 they were calling the students over and one by one 0:10:12.520 --> 0:10:16.000 giving them theseus and then uh, and then everyone's mouth 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:17.679 was on fire. And then they called me over and 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.080 they were like watch, watch wasatch and they had anyone. 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:24.520 It's like it wasn't that spicy. It felt like a superpower. Yeah, 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:28.280 that's pretty pretty amazing, And I do wonder if it's 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.439 always been that way, Like is that how humans started 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.440 eating spicy food to begin with? You imagine like this 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:38.120 prehistoric daredevil that came along and decided to chew through 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:40.599 that burn because he liked the adrenaline boost or I 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:43.640 don't really know. Yeah, I mean I was reading about 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.160 this archaeological dig from a few years ago where these 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.000 researchers found evidence that Europeans had been spicing up their 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:52.360 food for way longer than we once thought. Like Apparently 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.480 they found the remains of cooking pots from more than 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:57.120 six thousand years ago at three different dig sites, and 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.679 this is in northern Europe, and inside the pots they 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.200 found the bits of plant residue, some of which looked 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.760 a lot like modern day garlic mustard seeds. So I mean, 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:07.640 but what makes you sure that they were eating the 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:11.240 seeds for the heat specifically, Well, mustard seeds, like most 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.440 spicy plants we've been talking about, have next to no 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.880 nutritional values, so they wouldn't have been providing much energy 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:18.920 on their own, but they definitely would have added like 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.040 a sharp bite to whatever else was on the menu. 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:24.240 And that's ultimately what researchers believe we're dealing with here, 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:27.079 the earliest known use of spices and cooking. That is 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.240 pretty interesting. And you know, I always assume prehistoric humans 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:32.400 had these bland diets for the most part. I don't 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:34.480 know why. I would just think about what was available. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.200 So I just imagine like lots of cooked meat and 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.040 whatever edible plants that could scrounge up that might help 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.680 them just survive with that being the main goal. So 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:44.400 it is kind of fond to hear that they might 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.920 have been experimenting with different foods and adding flavor just 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.559 for flavors sake. Yeah, and I'm actually glad our ancestors 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:52.640 were willing to try new things, because that's likely why 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:55.120 spicy foods taste so good to us in the first place. 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:57.280 What do you mean. I thought we were in agreement 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.560 that spiciness is more of a mouth feel and not 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.040 a tape east. Yeah, I mean, we explain why our 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.800 bodies register certain foods is hot, but those foods still 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.360 carry their own flavors to I mean, think about what 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.120 a chili pepper tastes like. Right, it feels hot, but 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.440 it tastes kind of earthy or bitter or maybe even 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.240 mildly fruity. So you're saying we inherited a taste for 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.360 those flavors from like as far back as cave men. Well, 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.400 I mean maybe not cave mean exactly, but these beneficial 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.720 traits are passed down both culturally and genetically, and that 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:29.040 includes our preferences for specific flavors. All right, But is 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.160 liking the flavor of spicy foods a beneficial trade? I 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.800 mean you just said that most spices have basically zero 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:37.760 nutritional value though, right, that's true, but you've got to 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:41.200 keep in mind that spices have these antimicrobial properties that 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.559 can be very useful for preventing food spoilage. So I 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:46.959 think about chilies and other hot peppers, they can actually 0:12:47.040 --> 0:12:50.520 kill up to seventy five of food born bacteria, and 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:54.320 then spices like garlic, onion, oregano that can actually wipe 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.920 out the full So while today we mostly use spices 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:01.200 to enhance our foods flavor men, researchers actually think the 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.200 original reason for using spices was to kill that food 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:07.800 born bacteria and fungi. And if that's the case, like 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.000 the people who ate those foods with antibacterial spices were 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.920 likely the healthiest ones in their communities. And not only 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.760 would these prehistoric chefs have passed on their cooking tips 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:19.559 to their offspring, they also would have likely passed along 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:23.440 this taste for spicy bacteria killing cuisine. I think I 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.920 get it then, So from an evolutionary perspective, it makes 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:28.200 sense to have taste receptors that are well tuned to 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.360 spicy flavors, because you know, ultimately that would make us 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:34.640 likely to seek out foods that are protected against spoilage, 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.760 and I guess in theory would keep us alive longer exactly, 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.440 And making this connection between microbes and spices was no 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.600 easy task. A research team at Cornell only pulled it 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.080 off by scouring a mountain of data. And this included 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.560 nearly five thousand recipes from nine three cookbooks, and it 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:53.080 represented the traditional meat based cuisines of I guess thirty 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:56.160 six countries. And in the end, the researchers were able 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.160 to conclude that quote recipes are a record of the 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.319 history of the evely snary race between us and our parasites. 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.199 The micros are competing with us for the same food. 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:09.560 Everything we do with food, drying, cooking, smoking, salting, or 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.760 adding spices is an attempt to keep from being poisoned 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:16.600 by our microscopic competitors. They're constantly mutating and involving to 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.480 stay ahead of us. One way we reduce food born 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:22.680 illnesses is to add another spice to the recipe. Of course, 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:24.800 that makes the food taste different, and the people who 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:26.960 learned to like the new taste are healthier for it. 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:29.200 All right, Well, speaking of health, I do want to 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.720 take a closer look at what spicy foods can and 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.200 can't do to our bodies, including whether they can actually 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.840 help us live longer. But before we crank up the heat, 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:52.400 let's cool off with a quick break. You're listening to 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.400 Part Time Genius, and we're talking about the mouth watering 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.440 signs behind some of our favorite spicy foods. All right, 0:14:57.480 --> 0:14:59.000 make up. So a minute ago you were telling us 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.880 about the ability that's certain spices have to repel bacteria, 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.640 and humans aren't the only animal to reap that benefit. 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:08.360 For example, I was reading about a study where researchers 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.560 at Virginia Tech found that when chickens infected with Salmonella 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.200 eat a kept sation heavy diet, the germs within their 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.440 internal organs are reduced by half when you compare those 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:22.240 two infected chickens that just eat a normal So, I mean, 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:23.680 I've got to ask you, if you already eat the 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.760 chili eating chickens, like, would they taste spicier? You know? 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.240 Knowing how much I used to love the spicy chicken 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.440 sandwich from Wendy's, don't you think I thought about this? 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.120 I spent a lot of time wondering this. But I'm 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:38.200 afraid the answer is no, and they actually got a 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:41.000 taste panel together to determine that the flavor of the 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.680 chilis did not make its way into the meat. And 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.080 by the way, can you imagine being on this taste 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:49.200 being served a plate of chicken that was once riddled 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.720 with salmonella? I feel like the lack of spice would 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.360 be the least of my worries in that one. I know. Well, 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.280 what's crazy to me is that those chickens must have 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:58.800 scarfed down like a ton of chilies to kill such 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.640 a large percentage of bacteria area, and yet they didn't 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.240 even feel the peppers heat one bit. And this is 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.160 something else I know we touched on in our flavor episode. 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:09.080 But the reason for the chicken's immunity is that the 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.480 birds actually lack that trip the one food receptor, and 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.040 that actually makes them ideal customers for chili peppers, because 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.920 birds digestive tracts are much easier on seeds than those 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.880 of mammals. All right, so chili peppers and birds have 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.320 a pretty good thing going with one another. But I 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:26.480 do want to be selfish and and talk a little 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.280 bit more about what spicy foods can do for us. 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:31.920 Mango so you know, because the compounds found in our 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.200 go to spices actually have medicinal properties that humans have 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.560 relied on for centuries. For instance, you've probably heard that 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:43.320 some spices contain properties that reduce inflammation, including turmeric, ginger, 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.840 and garlic. And there was even a study out of U. C. 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.440 L A a a few years back where researchers use capsation 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.360 to hinder the growth of prostate cancer cells. And this 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.000 was this was in mice and and it actually left 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:57.000 their healthy cells intact. Not to be fair, there isn't 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.840 much evidence to suggest that eating chilies can prevent you 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.520 from getting cancer. But if nothing else, I mean, the 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:05.080 research gives some hope that peppers could help keep the 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:08.480 disease and check sometime in the future. Well, and there's 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.120 another area where scientists hope to harness this power of spice, 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:14.399 and that's with pain management. So we explained earlier how 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.879 cap says and activates receptors that trigger that familiar burning 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.960 sensation in our mouths. But what we didn't mention is 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.760 that our ability to perceive that burn is deadened the 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:26.199 longer the chemical stays in your mouth. And so how 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.760 does that work. Well, there's this mysterious compound it's called 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:33.000 substance P and that's involved in this pain perception, and 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.640 it gets released when the cap station activates our pain receptors. 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:40.040 But after a while, our body's supply gets depleted and 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:44.199 the brain stops receiving these pain signals altogether. So, of 0:17:44.240 --> 0:17:47.480 course cap station's ability to drain substance P and pain 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:51.080 perception is an exciting prospect for the medical community. In fact, 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.719 it's already been used in these topical creams to treat arthritis, 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.840 and there's actually hope that it can be applied to 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.119 anesthesia and pain killers at some point too. You so 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.160 this a little off topic, but you mentioned how kept 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.840 satan continues to burn for as long as it stays 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:07.080 in our mouths, and actually, I'm just curious is there 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:09.200 a way to get it out of there faster? Because 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.359 you always hear that milk is great for soothing the 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.440 burning mouth, But most of the time when I'm eating 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.120 something spicy, I don't have a glass of milk next 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.159 to me. So, but at least it's supposed to be 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:21.120 better than water, but I've never actually fact checked this. Yeah, 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.240 so definitely don't bother with water that that just spreads 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.280 the capt sastion around your mouth without killing any of 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:28.359 its heat, and instead, this is a case where the 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:32.840 rumors really are true, because milk can absolutely neutralize that 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.000 chili burn. And that's because dairy products and kept satan 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.760 both contain non polar molecules which are capable of dissolving 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.800 one another. But that doesn't Milks only trick because it 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.440 also contains something called casin, and this protein is able 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.520 to attract kept says and molecules to itself. So not 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.200 only will milk or ice cream neutralize the kept sacan 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.640 molecules that happens to touch, but it actually pulls any 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.720 stragglers off of our trip V one receptors and it 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.359 dissolves those as well. I always wondered whether that actually works, 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:04.320 But that that makes sense, all right. Well, there's one 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:07.000 more potential health benefit to eating spicy foods that I 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.480 want to talk about, and that's the idea that doing 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.800 so will actually help you live longer. And believe it 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:15.800 or not, there is some research to back up this claim. 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:18.120 Back in two thousand fifteen, there was an international team 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:20.280 of researchers and they were taking in an in depth 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:24.520 look at the connection between spicy food consumption and longer lifespans. 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:27.520 And what they found was that eating spicy food at 0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:29.720 least once a day for six or seven days a 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:34.439 week can actually lower mortality rates by four when compared 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:37.800 to eating spicy food just once a week. So I 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:39.880 love this idea of eating spicy food that many times 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.560 a week, but who actually eats that much spicy food? 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:45.200 I don't know who does well. The researchers were very 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.320