Why does milk cure the spicy feeling in your mouth after you eat something spicy but water doesn't? – Eloise, 10, Minnesota
melissamayerDear Eloise,
My work as a science cat has introduced me to human foods—like chips and salsa. I love the spicy taste of salsa, but I always keep a saucer of milk handy.
I talked about why milk calms the spicy feeling with my friend Emily Cukier. She’s a chemistry librarian at Washington State University.
She told me that the spicy feeling comes from something called capsaicin. The amount of capsaicin in a pepper determines how hot it is.
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