At the end of the fourth season cobra kai, Miguel decides to travel to Mexico in search of his father, so the fifth starts with him on a full quest, with Johnny and Robbie following in his footsteps to bring him back home. The arrival in the Latin American country is full of adventures and misadventures that end with the landing of father and son on the crane. Since they don’t have enough money to pick it up from the warehouse, Robbie offers to take part in the promotion. spicy food competition. In fact, they eat some of the spiciest food in the world. This is where the scientific part of it all comes into play. Each of the contestants has A glass of milkwho drinks without hesitation when the chili heat becomes unbearable.
We have all heard that milk perfect antidote for acute. We may even have tried it once. Just as we were able to verify that drink only water It’s not much of a relief. But why is it all?
The key, as in many other issues of our daily life, is in chemistry. In particular, within capsaicin, responsible for the pungent taste of chili peppers and in some milk ingredients. Of course, according to some studies, there could be much better antidotes than this. Will the authors cobra kai?
The role of capsaicin in acute
Hot peppers contain capsaicin, a substance that binds to TRPV1 receptors mouth cells. They respond to a variety of stimuli, from elevated temperature to very low pH, and when turned on, fire pain neurons. Therefore, when we eat spicy, we experience a sensation of pain and burning, similar to the one we experience. drink something very hot or very sour (low pH).
If we look at the composition of the capsaicin molecule, we see that it has a carbon tail and a hydrogen tail. This makes it a molecule lipophilic or, equivalently, with an affinity for fats. in its turn hydrophobic. That is, he does not have such an affinity for water. And that’s where the trick is to reduce the spiciness of the spice.
We have to look for fatty substances, or those that are also lipophilic, so that capsaicin can mix with them and not join in. TRPV receptors1. Water is useless, so when we drink it, the itching does not subside. At best, if it’s cold, it can lower the temperature of the mouth and calm it down temporarily, but that won’t help much. Instead, milk contains large amounts of a protein called casein, which is also lipophilic. In addition, whole milk contains many thickso it will win win.
However, in 2019, a study was conducted that tested the effectiveness of different types of milk and concluded that in fact casein is more important than fat. In fact, there was almost no difference between whole and skimmed milk. Useless against spicy vegetable drinks, as they do not contain casein.
Other medicines besides milk that could be used in Cobra Kai.
We have already seen that milk can help us avoid the unpleasant burning sensation of hot peppers, so it is used in contests like the one that appears in cobra kai. However, there are some problems. On the one hand, there are people lactose intolerance or allergy to milk protein, that they shouldn’t accept it. In the first case, it may not be a problem if they just rinse their mouth with milk without swallowing it. However, with allergies, we should not risk even that.
In addition, milk greatly changes spicy flavor in the mouth. And if we don’t do it just for the money, like Robbie in cobra kaiIt is normal that we eat spicy because we like its taste. For both cases, other options were explored. Indeed, it has been found that there are some that are free from these shortcomings and, moreover, are more effective than milk. This is water with sucrose.
In a July 2022 study, this sweet mixture was found to be able to reduce the burning sensation from spicy food more effectively than milk. In fact, it was found that sucrose solution 10% and at 20°C it was as effective as milk at 5°C. Therefore, in milk, the temperature could influence, but not in water with sucrose.
The problem is that it is sweet and can change the flavor of the spice a bit, but not as much as milk. Ultimately, according to science, both options seem to be correct. AT cobra kai they chose milk both at the contest itself and Robbie after, when he drinks from a big bottle on the way back. It could have been sucrose water, but it would have been less recognizable. Certainly no less effective.
Source: Hiper Textual
