Gotta Love The Hot Stuff...Or Do You?

(As heard on The G101-3 Morning Show)

Ever wonder why some people can eat a hot chili pepper and love it while other people can’t tolerate the heat? It turns out that people who “can’t take the heat” simply have more taste buds on their tongue. In fact, we all fall into 1 of 3 groups when it comes to tasting:

Non-tasters who don’t taste much of anything
Medium tasters
Super tasters

In an experiment at Yale School of Medicine, they counted taste buds on people and they ranged from 11 buds per square centimeter in a non-taster to 1,100 in a super taster. Women are twice as likely to be super tasters than men. The more taste buds you have – the more intensely you perceive flavors.

But taste buds not only taste – they feel pain. In fact, it turns out that the hot & spicy taste of a chili pepper isn’t taste at all - it’s pain. And if you bite something spicy - remember milk works better than water to put out the fire.