How Does the Human Body Process Spicy Food?

The human body uses tiny firefighters to deal with spicy food.

When you eat something spicy, like a hot pepper, it sends out tiny fire signals that travel up your tongue and into your mouth. These signals are like smoke, they tell your body there's a fire nearby. Your mouth starts sending messages to your brain saying, “It’s hot here!”

Your tiny firefighters, which live in your mouth and throat, jump into action. They try to put out the fire by making you cough or sneeze. Sometimes they even make you tear up, it’s like when you get sand in your eye.

But the fire doesn’t stop there! The spicy signals keep traveling through your body until they reach your brain. That's why you feel like your whole head is on fire, and maybe even why you start sweating!

Your body keeps fighting the fire until the spicy food is gone, or until it decides to give up and let the fire stay for a little while.

Sometimes, after the fire is gone, you might still feel warm, just like when you come out of a hot bath. That’s your body saying, “I survived the fire!”