Chilly has feel-good chemicals
It is not the red color of the chilly that arouses passion; instead its active ingredient, the capsaicin, stimulates endorphins that speeds up heart rates and gets you sweating….mimicking the feeling of being aroused. Endorphin is feel-good chemical found in the brain.
There are four major chemicals in the brain that influence our happiness (DOES):
- Dopamine
- Oxytocin
- Endorphins
- Serotonin
The body while defending itself against the heat of a hot chilli releases endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers as a result leaving you with a “high”. And this partly explains why there are so many lovers of hot curries.
Although eating too many very hot chillies in one go isn’t good for you, chillies do have many health benefits.
Uses of chilly:
- Good for a stuffed-up nose, as capsaicin thins nasal mucus and clears your sinuses.
- Capsaicin is used as topical pain-relief creams for arthritis and shingles.
- Capsaicin is an active ingredient in a new anaesthetic developed by scientists at Harvard Medical School (it blocks pain without affecting movement, touch or mental awareness, as other strong painkillers do)
