How to Stop the Burn of Spicy Food

How to stop the burn of spicy food

We all have different levels of tolerance for spicy food. As I have gotten older, I have developed a higher level of tolerance for the heat of spicy food! Now I actually enjoy moderately spicy foods, but occasionally, I eat peppers beyond my limit!

I have found that drinking ice water doesn’t help at all!  The reason is that the capsaicin (which gives peppers their heat) is an oil and is not water soluble.  Water does nothing but spread the capsaicin and make it seem worse!

I had heard that sugar calms the burn of spicy food, so I gave it a try. While my husband and I were waiting for our order at a local Mexican food restaurant, I snacked on a few of those jalapeno pickled carrots from the salsa bar. Yikes!  I thought my mouth was going to literally catch on fire!  I’m pretty sure I had smoke coming out of my ears!  My immediate reaction was to take a swallow of ice water.  Not a good idea!  It actually made it worse!  So I scrambled through my wallet to find a quarter and I ran to buy a handful of Skittles in from the candy machine.  I started to chew the candy and I got immediate relief from the burning!  The smoke coming out of my ears seemed to dissipate!

sugar to stop the burn of spicy food-

Next time you find that you have passed your comfort level on the Scoville Scale, try this quick remedy.  Relief can be found in sugar packets, candy or even a sugary drink!

7 thoughts on “How to Stop the Burn of Spicy Food”

  1. Peanut Butter! Especially if you have burning hands! This is the only thing that worked for me when I made stuffed jalapeno peppers.

  2. Small sips of milk. It will calm the burn while it’s in your mouth, but won’t actually make the burn go away.

    I’m one of those weird people that enjoys having their mouth on fire. I think I’ve exceeded my limit on only two occasions.

  3. Seeing as peppers are acidic, drink milk, eat bread or any other food/drink that would be considered a “base” to counteract the acidity. Why do you think goat milk and cinnamon are served at every Mexican resturant!?

  4. Also soft bread is awesome. For those who are diabetic candy is not always an option. But the bread will absorb the oils better. Hope this helps too.

  5. Honey works great. That’s why sopapillas with honey are a traditional Mexican dessert. Flan is also good for cooling the heat.

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