What would happen if you drank pure Capsaicin?

Question

It's 30 times hotter than the hottest type of Habanero Pepper. I can't imagine anyone taking a swig of this stuff and living through the experience. Has anyone ever heard of someone drinking this stuff straight? http://www.chez-williams.com/Hot%20Sauce/hothome.htm

Answer 1

About the only GOOD thing is that it's not toxic -- it doesn't cause any actual damage -- it just hurts like hell.

I once, when I was young and stupid, ate an entire habanero chile -- popped it in my mouth, pulled out the stem like pulling the pin on a hand grenade, told my family it had been fun knowing them, and started chewing. It was VERY BAD. The burn started as I began chewing the pod, and got worse (of course) when I broke open the placenta -- the part in the middle, which contains up to 85% of the capsaicin in a pepper.

I started to get nauseated after I swallowed -- and that was the worst, because the thought of having that stuff come back UP was simply terrifying. Having it go down was bad enough, but the thought of crushed habanero getting into the back of my nostrils, up into my tear ducts, and into the tubes leading to my inner ears was just awful. Feeling as if I'd swallowed a shovelful of burning embers from the barbecue, I lay down on the floor and began moaning.

Then my entire gastrointestinal tract went into spasm. Capsaicin, as it turns out, stimulates digestion by causing the muscles along the GI tract -- from the esophagus to the stomach and along into the intestines -- to squeeze, in the action known as peristalsis. Well, if you eat an entire habanero, you develop something which I called peristaltic lock: the entire digestive system goes into full-on charlie-horse mode, stiffening up and cramping in its own unique mode of pain. I pressed on my stomach, and the intestines were stiff as a weightlifter's biceps -- in fact, it was exactly as hard as my wife's belly when she was having sever labor contractions.

I'd always read that capsaicin takes six minutes for the body to break it down and for the pain to go away. I kept an eye on the clock, hoping for relief -- but it didn't come. It was almost 15 minutes before the last waves of searing agony dissipated and I was able to drag myself off the floor.

About six hours later, the pain returned -- but somewhere else entirely. I don't even want to THINK about that.

So to answer your question -- knowing intellectually how capsaicin works (it's a totally harmless calcium ion that stimulates the nerve endings that detect heat, it causes no more damage than vanilla, to which it is related) did NOTHING to keep me from feeling excruciating, searing agony. And therefore, while I know in my brain that capsaicin doesn't cause injury, it still HURTS like being turned inside out and roasted on a spit.

In a recent episode of the TV show "House," one of the doctors exclaims, "The pain alone will kill him!" I have no medical background to verify or deny that claim, but if it's possible simply to die from experiencing pain, even when there is no fundamental physical damage causing that pain... then yes, I suspect it might be fatal to drink something 30 times hotter than the bright orange habanero I chowed down on all those years ago.

Answer 2

The same thing that happens to your face and eyes when your sprayed with pepper spray.......ohhh the pain of it ugh!!!!!!! Happens to the the inside of your belly and intestine. Why would anyone want to consume such a knarlly substance. Stick to Habaneros, they're nasty enough as it is.

Answer 3

You will be in some very serious trouble in addition to atrocious pain and possibly die unless you get to a hospital within minutes.

Answer 4

you would die. yes, I'm serious. The acid is so strong the second it came in contact with you mouth, throat, and stomach it would corrode right through the tissue.