Chile Pepper Fun Fact - Capsaicin Oil

But I only want to love you...

Capsaicin, the component in chile peppers that produces the heat sensation, is created by the pepper plant to stop animals from eating its fruit. It does not affect birds, which spread the plant's seeds. But this defense mechanism only makes most of us want to eat chile peppers even more!

Studies have found that capsaicin can increase your metabolism, which increases the rate at which you use energy and burn fat stores. It can also lower your appetite, which may help you eat less than you normally would.

It turns out that capsaicin - the active ingredient in spicy food actually binds to a special class of vanilloid receptor inside our mouth called VR1 receptors. After capsaicin binds to these receptors, the sensory neuron is depolarized, and it sends along a signal indicating the presence of spicy stimuli.