hot chili = opiate?

[oxyaddict05]

SWIM just recieved an instant message from a good friend that read like this...

": i just ate hot chili, with hot sauce, with 4 jalapenos and a habernera mixed in...it feels like 15mg oxycodone!"

He claims it releases a shitload of endorphins? Has anyone heard of this. Oh, and this dude is an ex-heroin addict. So he knows his opiates.

[Heretic.Ape.]

Yes, peppers can release endorphins. that's why some people are soooo crazy about them, wheee! (still keeping my eyes peeled for those insanity peppers from the simpsons, lol)

[oxyaddict05]

He just sent SWIM this copy " Also for some Chile-Heads a good jolt of capsaicin excites the nervous system into producing endorphins, which promote a pleasant sense of well-being that can last several hours. The endorphin lift or "high", makes spicy foods mildly addictive and for some, an obsession. "
Apparently capsaicin is what causes it?

[bailey]

I've heard that as well. It's not a guaranteed 'high' though, imho. If you're looking for an endorphin rush naturally, nothing beats good old fashioned cardio exercise, if you're so inclined.

[enquirewithin]

Hot, spicy food is delicious, be it Thai, Shichuan, Indian or Indonesian. It gives you a warm satisfied feeling. Sometimes it gives you a rim of fire!

[merc11292]

article i read in some magazine said hot food does release endorphines which uplift your mood, but for a high off em id assume ud have to consume enough tobasco sause to light ur mouth on fire

[MacBeth]

This excerpt is pretty much how capsaicin works. Personally, I think it's the best legal drug available. SWIM would say it's better than most illegal ones that he's tried. I eat red hot chili peppers everyday, and I feel great...
Capsaicin, Endorphins, Pain, and Pleasure: How they all relate

So what is this addiction that chili eaters have with eating spicy food. If capsaicin initially induces powerful discharges of substance P in the pain pathway (and later reduces our sensitivity to pain), so much that many people hate to eat spicy food, then how is it that so many of us cannot eat without it in our foods? This is due to the fine line between pain and pleasure. When there is an increased concentration of B-endorphins (an opioid agonist), this stimulates the dopaminergic system to release more dopamine, which activates the reward circuit. This reward circuit is also known as the limbic system area, which runs in the brain from the ventral tegmentum, to the nucleus acumbens.

Reputation Comments on this post:

very interesting, I didn't know that and I love peppers!

[candy_kid]

a spoonfull of afterdeath hotsauce (extremely hot) produces an intense tingling in swim's extremities and a massive euphoric rush =D this however is not for the faint of heart

[merc11292]

a little off topic but swim recently tried consuming very spicy food after taking opiates, and swim was blown away it made 15mg of hydrocodone feel more like 30, foods gotta be really hot though, soaked swims in hot sauce

[doppey]

SWIM always turns to the chili jar when hes bored and lookin for a quick buzz. couple thai hot pepper striahgt provides a nice opiate like buzz for about 5 minutes. anything above the 10 mark and youll be bangin on the counter next time you drop some browns off at the superbowl.