Eating Spicy Food on Night Trips – The Ideal Solution to Combat Tiredness While Driving?
Research is controversial according to which eating spicy food on night trips is the ideal solution to combat tiredness while driving because it stimulates the metabolism, recharges concentration and improves mood. Statements that come from the United Kingdom and which raise suspicions of a commercial and promotional approach, typical of the toxic ecosystem of misinformation regarding certain foods.
“A simple correlation means nothing and in particular it is not proof of a cause and effect relationship,” writes chemist and science communicator Dario Bressanini. Unfortunately, however, these kinds of correlations are commonplace when it comes to nutrition, food, diseases and human well-being. And often they don’t seem strange to us because human beings are programmed to look for causes, not find them. Much has been written about the effects of spicy foods on our bodies.
The certain thing we know about this berry is that human beings are the only species to appreciate and seek the sensation of burning heat that it releases after each bite. But, you either love it or hate it, and personality plays a big role in that choice.
The character trait that drives us to seek strong emotions or what makes us more sensitive to rewards have a link with the passion for the burning of chili peppers and the consumption of large quantities of spicy foods. And some people love it so much that they even participate in competitions to see who eats the most ghost pepper, one of the hottest peppers in the world used to make the famous anti-violence spray or even, by the Indian army, as a non-lethal weapon to flush out the terrorists.
But where does this desire for “torture” come from? From capsaicin, the active ingredient of spicy chili pepper which causes the burning sensation by stimulating the trigeminal receptors present in the mouth. In fact, our fifth cranial nerve is responsible for the sensation of pain, burning, cold and irritation when you eat a mint candy or when you slice an onion.
A process that provokes a strong release of endorphins, the natural heroin that our body produces. And the excitement that this opioid causes is the reason why chili pepper is considered an aphrodisiac: it warms the body and causes exciting shivers all over.
There is a theory which clearly explains this kind of “benign” masochism: a slightly unpleasant situation in a safe context can be exciting. And that’s what drives us to go on a roller coaster, jump from a parachute, go bungee jumping or watch a horror movie and even eat spicy food. To each his own “pleasant torture”. De gustibus.