Why do your eyes tear up when you eat anything spicy?
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on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 6:06 pm and is filed under Other - Food & Drink.
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my eyes dont tear up but my nose runs and i dont think them doritos are hot
They used to but dont any more. I eat a lot of spicy food and I guess I have gotten used to it. Every now and then though I will try some new spicy food that will make me tear up or get a runny nose but it doesn’t happen often
my eyes not only tear up with hot nachos or doritos but also when chopping onions.
The chemical compound in chilis is called capsaicin. Its a low level poison that the mucus glands in our bodies get active to protect us against. Your eyes water, nose runs and lungs produce thin flem to protect you from this perceived attack. After time and exposure your body gets used to the regular consumption and reacts less and less. This affect is also the only known cure for the common cold, which has been proven in several studies on the people of avery island (tabasco production plant). The chemical activates all of the areas where the cold virus propogates and therefore removes the virus from your system faster. I’ve clocked the killing of a cold from sniffle to subsiding of symptoms to 60 hours(2.5 days) you can’t get that from zicam! God bless that firey little berry!