TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Rose Eveleth: The science of spiciness

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Why does your mtuoh feel like it's on fire when you eat a spicy pepper? And how do you soothe the burn? Why does wasabi make your eyes water? And how spicy is the spiciest scpie? Let's back up a bit. First, what is spiseicns? Even though we often say that something tastes spicy, it's not actually a taste, like sweet or staly or sour. Instead, what's really happening is that certain compounds in spicy foods activate the type of sensory nenorus called polymodal nroiteccpos. You have these all over your body, including your mouth and nose, and they're the same receptors that are activated by etxmree heat. So, when you eat a cilhi pepper, your mouth feels like it's burning because your brain actually thinks it's bunring. The opposite happens when you eat something with menthol in it. The cool, minty compound is activating your cold receptors. When these heat-sensitive receptors are activated, your body thinks it's in contact with a duogearns heat source and reacts accordingly. This is why you start to sweat, and your heart starts beating fstear. The peppers have elicited the same fight-or-flight rnsosepe with which your body reacts to most threats. But you may have noticed that not all spicy foods are spciy in the same way. And the difference lies in the types of cupmnoods involved. The capsaicin and piperine, found in black pepper and chili peppers, are made up of larger, heaevir mlceelous cleald alkylamides, and those mostly stay in your mouth. Mustard, horseradish, and wasabi are made up of smaller molecules, called isothiocyanates, that eaisly float up into your sinuses. This is why chili peppers burn your mouth, and wasabi burns your nose. The standard measure of a food's spiciness is its rating on the slovilce scale, which meraesus how much its capsaicin content can be diluted before the heat is no legnor detectable to humans. A sewet bell pepper gets 0 Scoville heat units, while Tabasco sauce coclks in between 1,200-2,400 units. The race to create the hottest pepper is a constant battle, but two peppers generally come out on top: The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and the Carolina Reaper. These peppers measure between 1.5 and 2 mllioin Scoville heat units, which is about half the units found in pepper spray. So, why would anyone want to eat something that causes such high levels of pain? Nobody really knows when or why hnuams started eating hot peppers. ahrioslceatogs have found spices like mustard along with human artcftias dating as far back as 23,000 years ago. But they don't know whether the spices were used for food or medication or just dcetroaoin. More recently, a 6,000 year old crockpot, lnied with crrhead fish and meat, also contained mustard. One theory says that humans starting adding spices to food to kill off bacteria. And some studies show that spice developed mostly in warmer climates where microbes also happen to be more prevalent. But why we cnuotine to subject ourselves to spicy food today is still a bit of a mystery. For some people, eating spicy food is like riding rollercoasters; they enjoy the ensuing trlhil, even if the immediate sensation is unpleasant. Some sieutds have even sohwn that those who like to eat hot stuff are more likely to enjoy other adrenaline-rich activities, like gambling. The taste for spicy food may even be genetic. And if you're thinking about tniaring a bit, to up your tolerance for spice, know this: According to some studies, the pain doesn't get any better. You just get tguheor. In fact, researchers have found that people who like to eat spicy foods don't rate the burn any less painful than those who don't. They just seem to like the pain more. So, torment your heat receptors all you want, but rmeebemr, when it comes to spicy food, you're going to get burned.

Open Cloze

Why does your _____ feel like it's on fire when you eat a spicy pepper? And how do you soothe the burn? Why does wasabi make your eyes water? And how spicy is the spiciest _____? Let's back up a bit. First, what is _________? Even though we often say that something tastes spicy, it's not actually a taste, like sweet or _____ or sour. Instead, what's really happening is that certain compounds in spicy foods activate the type of sensory _______ called polymodal ___________. You have these all over your body, including your mouth and nose, and they're the same receptors that are activated by _______ heat. So, when you eat a _____ pepper, your mouth feels like it's burning because your brain actually thinks it's _______. The opposite happens when you eat something with menthol in it. The cool, minty compound is activating your cold receptors. When these heat-sensitive receptors are activated, your body thinks it's in contact with a _________ heat source and reacts accordingly. This is why you start to sweat, and your heart starts beating ______. The peppers have elicited the same fight-or-flight ________ with which your body reacts to most threats. But you may have noticed that not all spicy foods are _____ in the same way. And the difference lies in the types of _________ involved. The capsaicin and piperine, found in black pepper and chili peppers, are made up of larger, _______ _________ ______ alkylamides, and those mostly stay in your mouth. Mustard, horseradish, and wasabi are made up of smaller molecules, called isothiocyanates, that ______ float up into your sinuses. This is why chili peppers burn your mouth, and wasabi burns your nose. The standard measure of a food's spiciness is its rating on the ________ scale, which ________ how much its capsaicin content can be diluted before the heat is no ______ detectable to humans. A _____ bell pepper gets 0 Scoville heat units, while Tabasco sauce ______ in between 1,200-2,400 units. The race to create the hottest pepper is a constant battle, but two peppers generally come out on top: The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and the Carolina Reaper. These peppers measure between 1.5 and 2 _______ Scoville heat units, which is about half the units found in pepper spray. So, why would anyone want to eat something that causes such high levels of pain? Nobody really knows when or why ______ started eating hot peppers. ______________ have found spices like mustard along with human _________ dating as far back as 23,000 years ago. But they don't know whether the spices were used for food or medication or just __________. More recently, a 6,000 year old crockpot, _____ with _______ fish and meat, also contained mustard. One theory says that humans starting adding spices to food to kill off bacteria. And some studies show that spice developed mostly in warmer climates where microbes also happen to be more prevalent. But why we ________ to subject ourselves to spicy food today is still a bit of a mystery. For some people, eating spicy food is like riding rollercoasters; they enjoy the ensuing ______, even if the immediate sensation is unpleasant. Some _______ have even _____ that those who like to eat hot stuff are more likely to enjoy other adrenaline-rich activities, like gambling. The taste for spicy food may even be genetic. And if you're thinking about ________ a bit, to up your tolerance for spice, know this: According to some studies, the pain doesn't get any better. You just get _______. In fact, researchers have found that people who like to eat spicy foods don't rate the burn any less painful than those who don't. They just seem to like the pain more. So, torment your heat receptors all you want, but ________, when it comes to spicy food, you're going to get burned.

Solution

lined
salty
tougher
continue
spiciness
heavier
neurons
shown
humans
studies
million
called
measures
sweet
charred
artifacts
longer
training
extreme
decoration
archaeologists
remember
faster
easily
response
spice
compounds
spicy
scoville
mouth
nociceptors
dangerous
molecules
burning
thrill
chili
clocks

Original Text

Why does your mouth feel like it's on fire when you eat a spicy pepper? And how do you soothe the burn? Why does wasabi make your eyes water? And how spicy is the spiciest spice? Let's back up a bit. First, what is spiciness? Even though we often say that something tastes spicy, it's not actually a taste, like sweet or salty or sour. Instead, what's really happening is that certain compounds in spicy foods activate the type of sensory neurons called polymodal nociceptors. You have these all over your body, including your mouth and nose, and they're the same receptors that are activated by extreme heat. So, when you eat a chili pepper, your mouth feels like it's burning because your brain actually thinks it's burning. The opposite happens when you eat something with menthol in it. The cool, minty compound is activating your cold receptors. When these heat-sensitive receptors are activated, your body thinks it's in contact with a dangerous heat source and reacts accordingly. This is why you start to sweat, and your heart starts beating faster. The peppers have elicited the same fight-or-flight response with which your body reacts to most threats. But you may have noticed that not all spicy foods are spicy in the same way. And the difference lies in the types of compounds involved. The capsaicin and piperine, found in black pepper and chili peppers, are made up of larger, heavier molecules called alkylamides, and those mostly stay in your mouth. Mustard, horseradish, and wasabi are made up of smaller molecules, called isothiocyanates, that easily float up into your sinuses. This is why chili peppers burn your mouth, and wasabi burns your nose. The standard measure of a food's spiciness is its rating on the Scoville scale, which measures how much its capsaicin content can be diluted before the heat is no longer detectable to humans. A sweet bell pepper gets 0 Scoville heat units, while Tabasco sauce clocks in between 1,200-2,400 units. The race to create the hottest pepper is a constant battle, but two peppers generally come out on top: The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion and the Carolina Reaper. These peppers measure between 1.5 and 2 million Scoville heat units, which is about half the units found in pepper spray. So, why would anyone want to eat something that causes such high levels of pain? Nobody really knows when or why humans started eating hot peppers. Archaeologists have found spices like mustard along with human artifacts dating as far back as 23,000 years ago. But they don't know whether the spices were used for food or medication or just decoration. More recently, a 6,000 year old crockpot, lined with charred fish and meat, also contained mustard. One theory says that humans starting adding spices to food to kill off bacteria. And some studies show that spice developed mostly in warmer climates where microbes also happen to be more prevalent. But why we continue to subject ourselves to spicy food today is still a bit of a mystery. For some people, eating spicy food is like riding rollercoasters; they enjoy the ensuing thrill, even if the immediate sensation is unpleasant. Some studies have even shown that those who like to eat hot stuff are more likely to enjoy other adrenaline-rich activities, like gambling. The taste for spicy food may even be genetic. And if you're thinking about training a bit, to up your tolerance for spice, know this: According to some studies, the pain doesn't get any better. You just get tougher. In fact, researchers have found that people who like to eat spicy foods don't rate the burn any less painful than those who don't. They just seem to like the pain more. So, torment your heat receptors all you want, but remember, when it comes to spicy food, you're going to get burned.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
spicy foods	3
spicy food	3
scoville heat	2

Important Words

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