To know how to help yourself or the people around you in a situation where hot pepper takes your breath away, unbearably “eats” your eyes, or burns your face and hands, you need to understand what causes this. And this happens because, in addition to essential oils, nutrients and vitamins, pepper contains a substance called Capsaicin, an alkaloid that gives pepper its hotness. When it gets on the mucous membrane of the mouth, eyes, or skin, it irritates the TRVR1 vanilloid receptors and causes a burning sensation, which is sometimes difficult to get rid of, and here’s why.
This substance has a melting point of 65 °C, is practically insoluble in water, but easily dissolves in alcohol, acetone, chloroform, caustic alkalis, and benzene. Therefore, no matter how much you rinse your mouth with water or wash your eyes, the amount of capsaicin will not decrease. Yes, it will be diluted, slowly washed away from the surface, but it will not become less. It’s like putting out burning gasoline with water; streams of fire will only spread in all directions, increasing the area of the fire. So, what to do and how to protect yourself from this substance?
What to do
The burning sensation caused by peppers is caused by a powerful, naturally occurring substance called capsaicin.
So, if you come into contact with hot peppers while cooking (or under other circumstances) and feel an unbearable burning sensation, you can do the following:
1. Salt. Take a few tablespoons of salt, add a spoonful of water, rub your hands with the resulting mixture, or completely immerse them in salt. Leave in this state for ten minutes, wash off with soap and water, and apply moisturizer.
2. Fresh cucumber. Ideally, you need to prepare a paste and put your hands in it. But if the burning sensation occurs in a small area, you can apply a slice of freshly cut cucumber to the affected area.
3. Ice. Helps reduce sensitivity for a while, for example, while you are looking for a cucumber or dissolving salt.
4. Milk. You need to keep your hands in milk for 10-15 minutes, then wash it off with soap and treat the skin with any moisturizer. If there is no milk, any fermented milk product will do: kefir, yogurt, yogurt, etc.
5. An alcoholic drink with a strength of at least 40 degrees. You need to dip your hand in alcohol and hold it there for seven minutes. Then rinse and lubricate with cream.
6. Raw potatoes. It must be turned into a paste, applied to your hands for 10-15 minutes, then washed off with warm water and soap.
7. Olive oil (sunflower oil will also work). Apply to hands, wait until the unpleasant symptoms subside, and wash off with warm water and soap.
8. Liquid soap and soda. These two components need to be ground to a paste, thoroughly rub your hands with it, and wait about a quarter of an hour. Please note: this mixture is washed off with vinegar, and only then with water.
9. Lemon juice, water and vinegar in a ratio of 1:1:1. Everything is combined and applied to the affected area.
10. Another great way to remove the burning sensation from pepper on your hands is salted milk. Dilute the salt with milk and dip your hands directly into the solution. Leave for 10-15 minutes, rinse, moisturize.
Why is it so hot?!
All varieties of hot peppers contain a special substance - capsaicin, which imparts a fiery taste. When it comes into contact with the skin, it provokes an immediate reaction: burning, redness or burning.
The degree of heat of pepper is determined by the amount of capsaicin
However, not all varieties contain the same amount of capsaicin, which is why they all burn differently. Thus, peppers from Southeast Asia and South America are considered the most aggressive. These include red bitter and chili. But European varieties, in particular Italian pepperoni, are considered to be the most loyal.
If your mouth burns
In addition, we will tell you what measures to take to relieve discomfort in the oral cavity.
Experts advise drinking one or two glasses of cold milk, dissolving the salt, slowly eating a spoonful of honey and drinking cold water; cold cream and yogurt can also perfectly stop the burning sensation (consume internally).
So that next time you don’t have to think about how to remove the burning sensation from pepper on your hands, use disposable latex gloves - this will protect you from burns.
Tags: , hands , pepper , , remove , burning , how
Spicy food - harm or benefit
Why is spicy not a taste?
There are no others, which does not prevent us from using the word “taste” in everyday life when assessing the taste and aroma properties of dishes or drinks. The combination of signals from receptors in the sinuses and mouth allows you to experience sensations such as pain or irritation. For example, a fire starting in the mouth from spicy food.
When a spicy dish or sauce contains pepper, we are left breathless by capsaicin, a substance named after the Capsicum family of capsicums and which gives its name to a class of structurally similar substances.
About 10 capsaicinoids of natural origin have been isolated from hot pepper fruits. Capsaicin in this mixture accounts for an average of 70%, the second most common is dihydrocapsaicin (about 20%), the content of other species is less than 2%.
Fire in your mouth?
The highest content of capsaicin is in the pulp of capsicums and their seeds. In its pure form, if it comes into contact with the mucous membrane or skin, it causes severe irritation, but even the hottest pepper contains capsaicin that is safe
When spicy food enters our mouth, capsaicin binds to TRPV1 receptors located on the surface of the taste buds of the tongue and in the mucous membranes. After activation by capsaicin, TRPV1 receptors change their structure, and the signal about this change begins to travel along the trigeminal nerve - the main sensory nerve of the face and oral cavity - to the brain. The brain interprets this signal as an increase in the temperature in our mouth. The reason for this sensation is that TRPV1 receptors are usually activated when the temperature rises above 43°C. Thus, TRPV1 sends a signal to the central nervous system, warning that the body is overheating, thereby protecting its owner from the danger posed by hot food. These same natural “thermal sensors” can also recognize certain types of substances contained in foods that we consider “spicy”.
TRPV1 receptors are also activated by allyl isothiocyanate, a substance that gives mustard, horseradish and wasabi its pungency.
How capsaicin tricks the nervous system
TRPV1 receptors play a game of “confuse a chemical signal with a thermal signal” with our nervous system. Therefore, as soon as we eat something spicy, the brain believes that we ate something hot. The central nervous system takes urgent measures to cool the body: blood circulation is activated to speed up metabolism, and intense sweating begins to cool the body. The concentration of natural painkillers - endorphins - increases in the blood. The nasal mucosa becomes inflamed, which is why the nose begins to run, tears also flow, the eyes close - the brain gives the eyelids a command to protect the organs of vision from the “high temperature”.
The sensations that arise when a dish turns out to be more fiery than expected undoubtedly cannot be classified as pleasant. However, in the amount in which capsaicin and capsaicinoids are contained in peppers or sauce, these substances do not cause physical damage to tissues and organs, but this does not mean that spicy foods are completely harmless.
Experiments on mice showed that the dangerous dose of capsaicin is 47.2 mg per 1 kg of animal weight. In terms of an average person weighing 80 kg, this is 3.8 grams. That is, you need to eat 200 grams of dry chili powder at once, which is physically impossible.
Spicy: harm and benefit
If we accidentally put something too spicy in our mouth, we may experience indigestion, nausea and vomiting. Why? If the activation of TRPV1 receptors is too intense, the brain reacts as if we had swallowed something very hot. Having been deceived, he tries to take all measures to bring out the supposed danger as quickly as possible, initiating vomiting. And during the urge to vomit, gastric juice ends up in the esophagus, where it should not be, and the acid it contains can severely damage the esophagus. The degree of damage will directly depend on the degree of irritation of TRPV1 receptors and the brain’s assessment of the potential “threat”.
This reaction of the body, in turn, suggests that a sharp transition from the usual sweet bell pepper to one of the hottest cayenne peppers will not only give us a lot of unpleasant sensations, but also endanger our health.
However, regular consumption of pepper dishes with a gradual increase in their heat allows you to develop resistance to the action of capsaicin and train the body to do without vomiting. And endorphins, natural painkillers and substances that allow you to feel pleasure that enter the bloodstream as a result of activation of TRPV1 receptors, contribute to the fact that over time a person can completely genuinely enjoy dishes with hot peppers.
Where hot peppers began to be grown and consumed earlier, people get used to it earlier. Some children's Mexican dishes seem too spicy for adult Europeans, because the Aztecs and other inhabitants of Central America grew hot peppers long before Columbus.
The domestication of chili peppers most likely began after it was noticed that meat and fish that came into contact with these red pods or powder from them had a longer shelf life - many of the substances contained in chili peppers are natural preservatives that kill microorganisms that cause food to rot.
Many guidebooks to South America recommend that tourists eat spicy foods to avoid contracting an intestinal infection. The substances that make up chili peppers kill pathogenic microorganisms or slow down their reproduction. Capsaicinoids inhibit the growth of some bacteria dangerous to humans, but pepper owes its antimicrobial properties to another substance - the flavonoid chrysoeriol, which, like many other flavonoids, tastes bitter to us.
The name “chili pepper” is similar to the name of the country Chile, but comes from a word from the Aztec Nahuatl group of languages, from which “chilli” is translated as “red.”
How to determine the heat of pepper
You can understand which pepper will be too hot for us using the heat scale. There are several of them, but most often scientists and cooks take the Scoville scale as a basis.
In 1912, American chemist Wilbur Scoville proposed using a quantitative scale based on taste sensations to measure the spiciness of peppers. An extract from various varieties of pepper was dissolved in alcohol, after which a drop of the alcohol solution was mixed with sweetened water and given to five tasters to taste. If they said that the burning sensation was felt, the solution was diluted and given again for testing. The unit of measurement was the volume of water drunk, which was required for the heat to cease to be noticeable - the more points a pepper or dish scores on the Scoville scale, the spicier it is.
The scale, compiled according to the subjective feelings of tasters, cannot be called ideal. Later in chemistry, more accurate approaches to determining the capsaicin content in a product appeared. But culinary experts still prefer to use the Scoville scale - in cooking, what is more important is what sensations a person will experience.
Published: March 21, 2022
How to eliminate the effects of hot pepper
Capsaicin, the main ingredient used in pepper spray, is found in hot red peppers. It is for this reason that pepper can cause a sharp burning sensation in the body that lasts for several minutes and sometimes hours. Capsaicin is a fat found in chili and those types of peppers that have the word “hot” in their names.
There are several fairly effective ways to get rid of the burning sensation that red hot pepper gives. For example, you can get rid of unpleasant sensations with milk
. Casein, being a milk protein, acts as a kind of “cleaner” when interacting with capsicin. It minimizes the effects of capsacin on nerve endings. To get rid of the burning sensation, you need to drink at least half a glass of milk, but first it is better to rinse your mouth with milk, this will relieve the pain.
The lower the temperature of the drink, the more effectively the burning sensation from red pepper is reduced. If the skin of your hands is burned by red pepper, you need to dip them in a container of milk, adding ice cubes to it, which will significantly ease the pain. If the discomfort resumes, it is necessary to repeat the procedure, replacing the used milk with fresh one. If milk is not available, you can replace it with any other natural dairy product.
Sugar syrup also helps relieve discomfort
You need to add a tablespoon of sugar to a glass of water, mix well until completely dissolved and thoroughly rinse your mouth and throat with the resulting syrup. A ten percent cold sweet solution is as effective as milk. However, its analgesic effect can only be felt when contact with the burned area occurs. In order to prevent the resumption of pain, you will need to systematically rinse your mouth with syrup for half an hour.
Since capsaicin is highly soluble in alcohol, it is washed out quite effectively by alcohol,
which acts as a solvent. Alcoholic drinks are not able to completely neutralize capsaicin, which causes a burning sensation, as a result of which milk is considered the most effective remedy. The effect of alcohol is achieved through the dissolution and distribution of capsaicin throughout the body. That is, it is impossible to completely relieve unpleasant sensations with the help of alcoholic drinks, but it is quite possible to alleviate the condition.
Capsaicin is also highly soluble in vegetable oils.
, therefore they can be used to remove burning substances from the skin and mucous membranes. However, it is worth noting that oils in this case are only slightly more effective than ordinary drinking water, and this method should be used only when it is not possible to use more effective methods of getting rid of the burning sensation caused by red pepper.
If, for example, the skin of your hand is damaged, you can use Vaseline to relieve pain. However, you should not use it if you have a burning sensation in the mouth caused by pepper.
What to do if pepper juice gets in your eyes
When preparing dishes with pepper, it often happens that after washing your hands poorly, when rubbing your eyes, the substance capsaicin gets onto the mucous membrane, or the juice accidentally splashes into your eyes, which causes severe pain and burning.
It is very difficult to find special eye drops for such cases in your home medicine cabinet. Therefore, there are several traditional and effective methods to neutralize capsaicin and eliminate unpleasant sensations:
- It is necessary to steep the tea bag or tea leaves for 5 minutes to ensure a strong solution. Wipe the eye with a generously moistened cotton swab towards the inner corner of the eye.
- Using the same principle, you can prepare a tincture of chamomile or calendula. Pour into a large bowl so that you can put your head in there; your eye should be immersed in the prepared solution. You must try to open your eye and blink it, and also actively roll your eyeball.
- The most effective eye wash is cow's or goat's milk. It must be instilled using a special pipette. In this case, the milk should flow back when instilled, thereby washing away the burning substance.
- Everyone in their home pharmacy probably has a drug such as furatsilin, which is very popular in ophthalmology. To do this, you need to dissolve 1 tablet of furatsilin in cooled boiled water (strain), and rinse the eyes with a sterile pipette, instilling them into the conjunctival sac (or organize an eye bath). It’s even better if it’s injectable furatsilin, which doesn’t need to be diluted with water.
- After the procedure, it is necessary to instill eye drops that have an anti-inflammatory effect.
Do not rub your eye with anything that can injure the mucous membrane. There is a high probability of a wound or scratch forming where infection can penetrate.
Adviсe
- Adding sugary ingredients to your hot pepper dish (such as grated carrots, fried onions, etc.) will help reduce the heat, but the dish will still be spicy, although you won't feel it right away.
- Over time, the burning sensation should go away on its own.
- You can eat a couple of pieces of bread.
- Tomato juice or ketchup are also good options.
- Eat a saltine cracker before you drink sugar water. Salt tends to absorb water and oil, helping to reduce the burning sensation.
Diagnostics
A specialist in the field of dermatology will determine the cause of the symptom; if necessary, doctors of other specialties will be involved in the examination. The dermatologist conducts a visual examination of the areas of the skin where the patient feels a burning sensation, after which he takes material for laboratory tests. Diagnostic search includes the following research methods:
- Dermatoscopy.
Under a microscope, the doctor examines the structures of the skin and identifies the initial stages of pathological changes. This is a simple and non-invasive method, which is indicated if the patient has a burning sensation in the area of new growths or suspiciously changed areas of the skin. - Luminescent diagnostics.
Inspection of the affected area using a Wood's paw allows you to quickly confirm ringworm, pityriasis versicolor, and erythrasma. The technique is used for rapid diagnosis of pseudomonas infection and acne. - Scraping examination.
The upper layer of the epidermis from the affected area is taken for microscopic examination. This method is informative in the diagnosis of fungal and bacterial infections. If a dermatologist needs to clarify the nature of the pathological process, a histological examination of a skin biopsy is prescribed. - Blood tests
. A clinical test is performed to detect signs of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. An increase in eosinophils in the hemogram indicates the allergic nature of the burning sensation. To assess the activity of dermatological diseases, a biochemical analysis with acute phase indicators and a proteinogram is prescribed.
During the period of remission of allergic dermatoses, prick tests are recommended to determine provoking factors and select ASIT. If there is a burning sensation in the lower extremities in elderly patients, duplex scanning of the peripheral arteries and arteriography must be performed. If complaints of burning skin are combined with inappropriate behavior of the patient, a psychiatric examination is prescribed.
Dressing for skin burns
Treatment
Help before diagnosis
If the burning sensation is caused by a slight burn of the skin (only redness, no blisters), it can be treated with dexpanthenol sprays. Medicines quickly relieve symptoms, soothe the skin and promote its healing. If you experience severe burns, rashes or other symptoms, consult a doctor. To quickly relieve burning sensations, experts prescribe gels and sprays with a soothing and cooling effect.
Conservative therapy
Therapy is determined by the underlying disease. Often, burning skin is caused by dermatological pathologies, to eliminate which an integrated approach is practiced. For mild cases of the disease, local remedies are sufficient: lotions and wet-dry dressings for weeping, ointments and rich creams for peeling. They use medications with antiseptics and antibiotics, topical steroids, and antimycotics.
For allergic dermatoses, systemic detoxification therapy is prescribed: antihistamines, sedatives, methods of extracorporeal hemocorrection. Antifungal drugs in tablets are recommended for the treatment of common mycoses. Herpes zoster requires intravenous or oral acyclovir.
Physiotherapy methods are effective in a comprehensive treatment regimen. To eliminate rashes, accelerate skin healing and stimulate immune defense, laser therapy, magnetic therapy, and ozone therapy are prescribed. In the remission phase of chronic dermatoses, skin irradiation with ultraviolet light and mud therapy are used. With senestopathies, patients require the help of a psychiatrist.
Prevention and precautions
Work with hot pepper only in protective equipment.
When working with pepper, latex gloves, goggles and gauze masks are used to protect the most vulnerable parts of the body. Additional protection for the skin of the hands is provided by vegetable oil and alcohol-containing products, which are used to treat the hands before interacting with the spicy vegetable.
Signs of pepper burn
Symptoms appear on the area of skin that came into contact with pepper. And includes typical signs of a burn: the skin itches, turns red, and a burning sensation is felt.
However, a burn can affect different layers of the dermis, in which case the signs will differ depending on the severity of the injury:
- mild degree - mild symptoms, which consist of mild discomfort;
- medium degree - redness of the skin, itching and peeling, and then a rash resembling hives;
- severe degree - the appearance of blisters, ulcers, and sometimes bleeding from the burned area.
Note! Pepper is dangerous not only in fresh form, but also in dry seasoning and in pepper plaster, since in any form it retains capsaicin.
When will the burning sensation from pepper go away?
Ingredients: hot pepper
contains capsaicin, which causes
a burning sensation
.
The substance slightly increases body temperature and speeds up metabolism by up to five percent: this effect lasts
an hour or two after eating.
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Why does pepper burn?
Red hot pepper seeds, veins and skin contain large quantities of capsaicin - this is an oily substance that causes burning, redness on the skin, swelling, etc. It is this that gives the pepper its spicy taste, but it can also cause a chemical burn.
In addition, capsaicin is dangerous because it can cause allergic reactions even when simply touching the pepper with bare hands. And if such a substance enters the body, it takes a long time to be eliminated.
Symptoms can be relieved, but complete recovery will not occur until the capsaicin is released. And this usually takes several days.
