• megopie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    3 hours ago

    Spicy isn’t a taste or a smell, it is a sensation caused by the compounds lowering the threshold to activate of heat detecting nerves too below the ambient temperature of the human body. It’s basically making you burn your self.

    Lots of other “flavors” are also like this, lowering the threshold of firing for certain sensory nerves. Sichuan pepper for instance, it lowers the threshold for movement sensing, causing the bizarre tingle waving sensation.

    Those heat sensing compounds exist all over your body, not just in your mouth.

  • Xanthrax@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    I see we’re having a debate about tasting shit. May I politely ask, would you like to “eat shit”?

    Personally, nah.

    • SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      7 hours ago

      To some, hilarity.

      To others, science.

      To others, horror.

      To… Others… Pleasure :(

      I’m of the first three.

    • SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      7 hours ago

      Either that or some sick fucks of you here need to do some experimenting for all of us. For science.

      • SCmSTR@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        7 hours ago

        I can see the headline now:

        “World descending into World War III, meanwhile, obscure internet forum discovers horrible new way to diagnose illness”

  • bearoftheisle@europe.pub
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    11 hours ago

    I don’t think OOP has thought this one through, tasting things through my butt would be one of the last things I’d wish for

    • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      If our assholes had taste buds, you better believe there would be a whole category of dietary supplements aimed at making our shit taste good. Then there would be a backlash movement consisting of people who are proud to shit naturally and taste it.

      • qualia@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        Ginger is one of seven times spiciness has independently evolved: gingerol, allicin (garlic), capsaicinoids (chili peppers), allyl isothiocyanate (mustard, horseradish, wasabi), piperine (black pepper), eugenol (cloves) and alkylamides (Sichuan peppers, which are distinct from chilis). They’re all functionally pungent, but chemically distinct: meaning no single shared class.

  • kboos1@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    Because spicy is not a flavor. Spicy is more like an allergic reaction to a chemical that certain plants excrete as a defense mechanism. Humans are just weirdos because we enjoy our mouths and buttholes being on fire.

    • hydrashok@sh.itjust.works
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      21 hours ago

      Plant: develops high amounts of capsaicin to ward off predators

      Humans: ooh, this would be great with chicken!

      Plant: am I a joke to you?

          • ButteryMonkey@piefed.social
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            20 hours ago

            Ooh I get to be that guy!

            Acktachully, your entire digestive system is lined with taste buds! They aren’t hooked into your normal sensory awareness, so you don’t taste your own digestive juices the way you taste your mouth, but they are used for sensing things like spoiled food and spice! Those receptors can trigger ejection of material if it’s bad enough (diarrhea/vomiting, depending where in the tract it sensed bad stuff). That’s why sometimes after something very spicy, your guts burn.

            https://askabiologist.asu.edu/taste-outside-mouth general info about digestive system taste buds

            https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23886384/ This one is specifically about taste receptors in the colon

            • [object Object]@lemmy.world
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              4 hours ago

              you don’t taste your own digestive juices

              Not taste, but I do feel when my dipshit stomach decides to flood itself with acid until I put something into it.

    • jmill@lemmy.zip
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      13 hours ago

      The chemical is capsaicin, and it’s a neurotoxin. That’s why with repeated exposure you can start to gain resistance.

      Birds are less sensitive to capsaicin, which made having it around seeds beneficial for plants. Birds eat the seeds and then spread them after flying somewhere else, but mammals are deterred from eating the seeds and they are poor vectors for spread because most mammals that eat large amounts of vegetable matter have molar teeth that aid in breaking down small seeds for digestion.

      Until a certain mammal decided they liked the burn, and deliberately spread those plants further than birds ever did.

    • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      argument: we normally think of five flavors (salty, savory, sour, sweet, bitter) but without spicy the meal is not complete. shit, some people consider slimy a flavor and that’s fair.

      • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
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        18 hours ago

        There’s also menthol and whatever compound is in Szechuan pepper.

        OMG, now I’m craving Mapo Tofu.

        • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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          17 hours ago

          whatever compound is in Szechuan pepper.

          i ran out of coffee beans and tea just doesn’t cut it are we talking a different spicy? is it that numbing effect some people get?

            • MinnesotaGoddam@lemmy.world
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              15 hours ago

              i’ve eaten the peppers but never gotten the numbing people told me i was supposed to get to that’s why i’ve been confused relating specifically to szechuan peppers my entire adult life

              • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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                5 hours ago

                You should see if you can find some Japanese pepper. I find it has a stronger effect than the Szechuan ones. It’s not like a numbing so much, but it makes your lips tingle without making your tongue burn.

                Or maybe the problem is just needing the fresh varieties instead of dried. Even black pepper can be comparatively spicy when eaten fresh.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanthoxylum_piperitum

    • Aljernon@lemmy.today
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      10 hours ago

      I envy you that you’ve never taken a shit with your sphincter on fire and a tear rolling down your face

      • MIDItheKID@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        I like spicy things. I eat spicy things all the time. One time maybe 10 years ago I ate a “stinger” pie from a pizza place. It was a pizza with hot peppers and hot pepper oil. It was so spicy and so so good.

        The events that occurred in the next 24 hours were something to behold. I was sitting on the toilet, sweating, shaking, and making my peace with God. It was an all day event. Full throttle.

        Since then, my intestinal fortitude has been severely diminished. I have to be careful about eating things too spicy or it will mess me up. It’s like I built up a thick intestinal lining over years and years, and this one event tore down the walls. They were blasted out.

        Life has not been the same.

    • texture@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      people who dont have a built up tolerance to hot spice just plain love talking about how their butts feel.

    • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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      10 hours ago

      The anus isn’t unique in having bodily reactions to irritants (capsaicin), people just don’t expect things to not break down fully after they’re ingested. No one talks about being surprised that your eye or nostril gets irritated if you have hot sauce on your fingers (nor would they be surprised by a burning sensation from hot sauce applied directly to butthole).

      • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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        8 hours ago

        This is generally true for most people, but no. When you eat really spicy food, especially something that actually has hot pepper seeds in it…it may be spicy on the way out, too.