From Indian curries to Thai salads and Mexican chilli, spicy dishes are a favourite in many cuisines. The heat caused by spices is down to capsaicin, a substance which appears in higher amounts in cayenne pepper, chilli peppers and paprika, and in smaller amounts in spices like cinnamon and coriander.
Why does your mouth feel like it’s on fire when eating that super-hot curry? The heat we experience is a sensation, rather than heat from the food itself, and varies from person to person. Capsaicin binds to nerve pain receptors in the body. As a result, you may feel like your tongue is burning, feel thirsty, go red in the face and start sweating, and your eyes and nose may start to run.
The heat levels in foods are measured in SHUs (Scoville heat units). A bell pepper you can find in supermarkets has a SHU scale of 0, a jalapeño can reach up