Hot Pepper Myths

Add a little spicy heat to your meals this season by growing a few hot peppers. 

And don’t worry about destroying your taste buds or burning a hole in your stomach, these are just a few of the hot pepper myths you may have heard.

The spicy heat may irritate existing ulcers and hemorrhoids, but won’t cause them. So those with a sensitive system may want to avoid the discomfort hot peppers may cause.

And your taste buds will recover from those spicy hot pepper dishes. The capsaicin receptors in your mouth and tongue send pain signals to the brain temporarily numbing your mouth, making you think, your taste buds have been destroyed. Our taste buds, however, are replaced on a regular basis.  As we age they become less dense, whether you eat spicy food or not, so we are unable to appreciate and discern all tastes, including hot and spicy.

A bit more information: This brain’s pain suppressing response to hot peppers is why you will find capsaicin in ointments for arthritis and neuropathic pain as well as some skin conditions.

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