How come some of us love spice, while others can't stand it? Turns out, it might have something to do with genetics and our personality types.
Spice is a huge part of many culinary cultures across the world. According to a study based on twins, genetics can influence your spice tolerance anywhere from 18-58%, while the rest is due to environmental factors (Byrnes et al., 2013). This same study also found that identical twins were much more likely to have the same levels of reaction to spice as compared to fraternal twins.
What causes that burning feeling? It begins with something called capsaicin- a chemical compound found in chilies. When capsaicin binds to the heat receptor on a neuron, it creates the burning sensation. These receptors are called TRPV 1 receptors and is turned on by chemical compounds that are spicy or have a very strong taste in general. Some people may have less pain receptors, so their mouth does not feel as much as other people's.
But where does personality and environmental factors kick in? The study found that people who naturally seek more thrill or other sensations in their life are also more likely to tolerate more spice. The same principle applies to individuals who have traits associated with sensitivity to rewards. Of course, people who ate spicy food more regularly were also more likely to enjoy higher heat levels for their food. The study participants were asked to take a variety of personality tests and eat different levels/types of heat and other pungent foods with strong tastes of either bitterness, sourness, sweetness, burning/stinging, savory/umami, and saltiness (Törnwall et al., 2012).
So... Next time you tease your friend on how they can't handle the heat, think of genetics!
Byrnes, N. K., & Hayes, J. E. (2013). Personality factors predict spicy food liking and intake. Food quality and preference, 28(1), 213–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2012.09.008
Is Spice Tolerance Genetic? | Psomagen. (n.d.). Psomagen.com. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://psomagen.com/is-spice-tolerance-genetic/
Törnwall, O., Silventoinen, K., Kaprio, J., & Tuorila, H. (2012). Why do some like it hot? Genetic and environmental contributions to the pleasantness of oral pungency. Physiology & Behavior, 107(3), 381–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.09.010
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Sanjana,
ReplyDeleteI unfortunately cannot handle the heat (my spicy food tolerance is very low). It’s interesting (and somewhat intuitive) that risk-takers are likely to tolerate spice differently (I hope this does not mean I’m a wimp). Jokes aside, genetics is a strong proponent in spicy tolerance, and I found a paper that found an interesting association.
This study was performed on 150 Korean males patients with alcohol dependence and 100 normal males. Both their preference for spicy food was measured as well as a DNA analysis to detect the A118G polymorphism. In the end, alcohol dependent patients had a significantly stronger preference to spicy food compared to their normal counterparts, particularly those carrying the G allele (Park et al., 2017).
So does this mean that we could potentially use spicy tolerance/preference as a risk factor towards alcoholism? Likely not at the moment, but it is interesting to see associations like this. Part of me wonders how spicy tolerance/preference differs between cultures and the other unknown associations we have yet to research as well.
References:
Park, J. H., Kim, S. G., Kim, J. H., Lee, J. S., Jung, W. Y., & Kim, H. K. (2017). Spicy Food Preference and Risk for Alcohol Dependence in Korean. Psychiatry investigation, 14(6), 825–829.