In article <92126.115541SXL136@psuvm.psu.edu> SXL136@psuvm.psu.edu writes: >I am a big fan of Salsa on tortilla chips as I have always gotten a rush >from eating it (and it clears up my head if I have a cold), but I never >realized until a few days ago that eating very spicy foods can actually >release endorhpins into your blood stream.... > >Sean This is from the _Austin Chronicle_ May 3, 1991 (Reprinted without permission). The Chile Pepper Counterculture ------------------------------- (by Robb Walsh) Endorphins, those natural drugs that are 100 to 1,000 times more powerful than morphene, are released into our brain when we eat hot chile petters, according to a New Mexico University scientist. Like other psychotropics, including peyote, coca and tabacco, chile peppers alter our state of consciousness. In the case of chile peppers the high is non-hallucinogenic, but it is addictive. Experimental psychologist Frank Etscorn of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology told the New Mexico Chile Conference that chile addicts are hooked on endorphins. "We get slightly strung out, but it's no big deal," he says. Getting a runner's high without the running may be a bigger deal than Etscorn imagines. It also explains a lot about the perverse psychology of chile-pepper lovers. Eating more chile peppers produces more pain, more pain produces more endorphis. Maintaining a steady burn has been called "mouth surfing" by many observers of the emerging chile pepper counterculture. The endorphins and physical sensations that flood the brain when a chile addict bites into a pepper suddenly interrupt the thought processes and overwhelm the senses. This phenomenon has been described by doctors as a "rush." According to Dr. Weil, a physician quoted by Austin chile expert Jean Andrews, chile junkies "glide along on the strong stimulation, experiencing it as something between pleasure and pain that ... brings on a high state of consciousuness." . . . . . The overwhelming body of opinion indicates that the pain of peppers is intense but causes no real damage. That's why blistering or reddening is not associated with pepper pain. . . . But ... don't worry about hurting yourself eating chile peppers. The chemical capsicin is fooling your nerves into believing that they are burning in hell, when in fact nothing is wrong with them at all. And your dumb body rushes all those painkillers to those special receptors in the brain. That's a pretty good practical joke, huh? Pass the hot sauce. "Peppers, the Domesticated Capsicums" by Jean Andrews, University of Texas Press
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