Our bodies detect spice using a completely different system than the one for taste. The trigeminal nerve, which is the part of the nervous system that sends touch, pain, and temperature feelings from your face to your brain, interprets it. In this way, spicy isn't a taste so much as it is a reaction.
Spice is not a taste
The sensation that accompanies spice does not come from tastants, but rather from other chemicals called capsaicinoids[1]. These chemicals trigger heat and pain receptors in the tongue.
Pungency is not considered a taste in the technical sense because it is carried to the brain by a different set of nerves. While taste nerves are activated when consuming foods like chili peppers, the sensation commonly interpreted as "hot" results from the stimulation of somatosensory fibers in the mouth.
When it comes right down to it, spice is a texture, a physical sensation on the tongue. Still, since every major breakdown of flavor includes spice as a taste sensation, and since we are so used to thinking of it in terms of food, we will include it in our discussion as part of the flavor spectrum.
While the two may seem unrelated, the burning sensation you feel when eating something spicy is similar to the burning pain you experience when you accidentally touch a hot pan. In response to each, temperature-sensitive pain receptors are triggered — immediately screaming, "This is HOT!" to your brain.
Spicy Foods Can Cause a “High”
Capsaicin causes pain and triggers the body to think it's in danger. In response, the body releases endorphins, which are pleasure causing hormones, this is the body's way of trying to eliminate the “threat” it feels when you eat spicy food.
Like drugs and alcohol, some people turn to spicy foods for instant satisfaction. In fact, the feeling you get when you eat extremely spicy food can almost mimic the high from drugs and alcohol. Your head may start to feel a little buzzy and you may even feel a bit numb.
Because eating spicy can cause your body –pituitary gland and hypothalamus specifically, to release endorphins. Endorphins can be known as a trigger happy chemical, which gives you an instant feeling of pleasure from head to toe. People crave the spiciness of food just the same way they crave something sweet or salty.
The biology of spice
We tend to say that something tastes spicy but the truth is, spiciness is not a taste. Unlike sweetness, saltiness and sourness, spiciness is a sensation. When we eat spicy food, certain compounds in the food stimulate receptors in our mouth called Polymodal Nociceptors and trigger a reaction.
The answer is no, salt is not a spice or herb since both of which are obtained from plants. Salt is a worldwide popular seasoning, yet it is not a spice. Instead, it is an organic mineral. Spices like black pepper are organic plant-based flavorings differently from salts.
In fact, all animals taste flavors differently (cats lack the ability to taste sweetness). Because birds are biologically unable to register the effects of capsaicin—the chemical that makes peppers feel “hot” in your mouth—they don't feel the burn like we do.
The seven most common flavors in food that are directly detected by the tongue are: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, meaty (umami), cool, and hot.
Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter taste sensations. It's most commonly defined as “savoury”, but the characteristics of umami can also be described as “meaty”, “complex” or even just “deliciousness”. A Japanese word, umami is pronounced: “oo-ma-mee”.
But "fruity" and "spicy" aren't actually tastes -- which refer to sweet, sour, bitter, or salty. They're odor perceptions sensed through the mouth, according to the scientists.
spicy Add to list Share. Spicy things have a sharp, strong, pungent flavor. Hot chili peppers—and food that's made with them—are notoriously spicy.
5 basic tastes—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami—are messages that tell us something about what we put into our mouth, so we can decide whether it should be eaten.
Ingestion of spicy food causes a burning sensation, which is innately aversive, but has been considered a hedonistic behavior. The pleasure of eating spicy food may derive, merely, from the exposure effect, and it could be considered as “benign masochism”, due to the perception of taking a “minimal risk”.
"Theoretically, one could eat enough really hot chiles to kill you," he says. "A research study in 1980 calculated that three pounds of extreme chilies in powder form — of something like the Bhut Jolokia — eaten all at once could kill a 150-pound person."
Why? A look into the anything-but-bland origins—and the fiery future—of a famously bland cuisine. If you grew up as I did — an American Jew with little faith but lots of historically informed anxiety — you have a “When they come for the Jews” plan.
Hot or spicy is not a taste
By the way: the sensation of something as “hot” or “spicy” is quite often described as a taste. Technically, this is just a pain signal sent by the nerves that transmit touch and temperature sensations.
While chili peppers contain no addictive properties, the experience of heat and pain triggers a release of pleasant endorphins. This experience is similar to a runner's high or roller coaster rides that adrenaline junkies crave. So, you might say that capsaicin makes people feel “alive”.
It isn't a myth — you really can increase your level of spice tolerance through frequent exposure. When you eat foods containing capsaicin, your TRPV1 receptors open up and let sodium and calcium ions in, which sends pain signals to the brain.
The heat may be all in your head
“Although you feel like it's burning [when you eat spicy foods], it's actually a trick of the mind,” he says, adding that spicy foods do not cause any physical harm to a well-functioning digestive system.
Although spicy foods don't cause ulcers, they can trigger abdominal pain in some people. One study specifically highlighted that frequent consumption of spicy foods can trigger upper gastrointestinal symptoms in some people with dyspepsia (or, indigestion).