BBC news story on the event... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-15183070
> -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of Eugen Leitl > Sent: 17 October 2011 17:15 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [silk] Can the Hottest Peppers In the World Kill You? > > > http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/17/1358244/can-the-hottest- > peppers-in-the-world-kill-you > > Hugh Pickens writes writes "Katharine Gammon writes that last week, the > Kismot Indian restaurant in Edinburgh, Scotland, held a competition to > eat > the extra-hot Kismot Killer curry and several ambulances were called > after > some of the competitive eaters were left writhing on the floor in > agony, > vomiting and fainting. Paul Bosland, professor of horticulture at New > Mexico > State University and director of the Chile Pepper Institute, says that > chili > peppers can indeed cause death — but most people's bodies would falter > long > before they reached that point. "Theoretically, one could eat enough > really > hot chiles to kill you," says Bosland adding that a research study in > 1980 > calculated that three pounds of the hottest peppers in the world — > something > like the Bhut Jolokia — eaten all at once could kill a 150-pound > person. > Chili peppers cause the eater's insides to rev up activating the > sympathetic > nervous system — which helps control most of the body's internal organs > — to > expend more energy, so the body burns more calories when the same food > is > eaten with chili peppers. But tissue inflammation could explain why the > contestants in the Killer Curry contest said they felt like chainsaws > were > ripping through their insides. As for the contest, restaurant owner > Abdul Ali > admitted the fiery dish may have been too spicy after the Scottish > Ambulance > Service warned him to review his event. 'I think we'll tone it down, > but > we'll definitely do it next year.'" > > > > > ------------------------ > This email was scanned by BitDefender. ------------------------ This email was scanned by BitDefender.
