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Do you get hot just seeing a photo of Indian curry or rougail sausage? This would not be the only effect of spicy dishes on our body and our senses, as a team of Chinese researchers recently experimented.
Chili pepper is in fashion! Between the spiciest chips in the world that parade on the networks, and the interviews conducted with actors tasting increasingly “hotter” dishes, scorching food is in full swing. But spicy dishes don’t just have the ability to make you sweat profusely. A team of Chinese researchers discovered a rather surprising benefit.
Evaluate the analgesic effects of spicy dishes
The team from Chongqing Normal University wanted to determine whether simply looking at an image of a visibly spicy dish would have an effect on our senses and in particular on the perception of pain.
To evaluate their theory, they recruited 26 people who had to look at photos of spicy dishes and other foods, such as fruits, sweet products, fatty products. During the viewing, the participants also received small electric shocks. After the procedure, they were asked about the intensity of the pain they felt.
Less pain when watching “hot” dishes
According to very serious results published in the scientific journal Biological Psychology,, the response to pain was indeed influenced by the observation of images of spicy foods. In detail, adults rated the pain at 4.6 when they looked at images of spicy products and at 5.7 when they looked at other foods.
According to the researchers, the potential use of “spicy arousal stimuli” would thus act as analgesics. New data that could advance the importance of these stimuli in combating pain.