Sunday, December 24, 2006 1:33 AM
Next time when you eat a red hot chilli and your mouth starts to feel funny and numb, never ask for a cup of water. It wn't help curb the spicyness.
According to this cool Chemistry book I am reading, it says that Capsaicin - a compound found in hot pepper that causes the spicy feeling - does not dissolve in water. So no matter how much water you drink, the capsaican will not dissolve in the water and th spicy feeling will not go away.
So what do I do? Many would say. Capsaicin dissolves in liquid that contains some fat. You can drink milk to help the spicyness go away. For the desperate, down a whole bottle of cooking oil! =) However, when you down the whole bottle of cooking oil, beware of other health problems like stroke.
For those who can drink alcohol, you are in luck! The best solvent for capsaicin is alcohol. Those who cannot stand spicyness, ask for some alcohol!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
