Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Hot Chiles are Good for You

Us chile lovers all know this, but there is fresh news in chile research. The active ingredient in chiles, capsaicin, may have a future role in replacing some addictive narcotic painkillers. Think back to a time when you bit into a really hot chile: at first it was hot and painful, but then after a while your mouth and tongue went numb. It's that numbing affect on pain-sensing nerves that researchers are hoping to exploit. It's hoped that bathing surgically exposed nerves in a high enough dose will numb them for weeks.

Of course, some people might argue with you about the addictive qualities of chiles.

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