Why does cutting peppers make your hands burn? It turns out this is the reason

When people cook daily, they often find that peppers make their hands spicy, but most people don’t fully understand the answer to the question of why cutting peppers makes their hands spicy. In fact, the burning sensation on your hands from cutting chili peppers is mainly caused by capsaicin in the peppers, which produces the spicy taste.

Why does cutting peppers make your hands spicy?

The substance that produces the spicy taste in chili peppers is a type of capsaicin, which is collectively called capsaicin. When cutting peppers, capsaicin sticks to the skin, causing the capillaries to dilate, resulting in redness and heat of the skin, and accelerating the local metabolic rate. At the same time, it will stimulate the pain nerves, which is why we usually feel burning hands. It is generally believed that this is caused by capsaicin causing chemical changes in the nerve endings of the skin.

What should I do if my hands get burned by cutting peppers?

1. Immediately apply soap to your hands and scrub vigorously for 5 minutes to greatly relieve the symptoms. Because capsaicin easily adheres to around pores and is soluble in alkaline solutions, the problem can be solved by using soap.

2. Floral water and cooling oil can also relieve the symptoms of irritated hands.

3. If you have aloe vera gel at home, you can try using it, the effect is also very good.

4. Use alcohol to dissolve the capsaicin on your hands. After cutting peppers, you can wipe your hands in one direction with an alcohol cotton ball, then wash your hands with clean water, and then dry them. Do this three times until the symptoms are relieved.

5. Wash your hands with a small amount of vinegar. This is because vinegar is acidic and can neutralize capsaicin. It is also a good idea to wash your hands with hot water, because capsaicin will produce irritating evaporation under high temperature. Although it is not as good as alcohol and vinegar, the effect is worse than cold water.