How to Neutralize Spiciness in Your Mouth

This is a guide on how to get rid of the heat in your mouth when it becomes unbearable to deal with. This contains one of the most effective methods to get rid of a lot of spiciness with little use of beverages.

Step 1: Understanding Spiciness

Spiciness is commonly related to peppers, but it can also be caused by other foods and is consistent with more acidic foods. Although acidic foods are not always spicy, a majority of spicy foods are acidic. There is a measurement of capsaicin in peppers and what it takes to dilute it with water. The numbers on the Scoville scale are equivalent to how many cups of water it takes to dilute the capsaicin in the specified food. So when a pepper reaches 300,000 Scoville units... it becomes hopeless to dilute the capsaicin with water. This is especially difficult due to the fact that capsaicin is an oil and water mainly just moves it around. That is where other liquids and beverages come in handy in neutralizing the capsaicin.

For a more public setting solution go to step four!

Step 2: Neutralizing Spiciness for the Lactose Tolerant

The most common go to for getting rid of the heat (aside from water) is milk. Some people believe that if they drink enough milk they can get rid of the burn, but instead of destroying it... they just move it to their stomachs. The method I know of may not be the most polite, but it will stop the burn. The method I use is quite simple and effective as long as you follow these steps:

1. Fill your mouth partway up with milk

2. Swish the milk around to mix it with the heat

3. Spit it out instead of swallowing it

4. Repeat these steps up to 4 times

The most it ever took me to do this was 2 times. However, the results may not be the same if you eat a Bhut Jolokia (Ghost pepper) when you can barely handle a Jalapeno.

Go to step three if Lactose Intolerant!

Step 3: Neutralizing Spiciness for the Lactose Intolerant

The concept is the same as that of milk, but the steps are slightly different:

1. Put about a teaspoon of white sugar into your mouth

2. Let your saliva dissolve the sugar

3. Swish the liquid around your entire mouth

4. Spit the liquid out

5. Repeat this process up to four times

Same rules apply as the milk.

Step 4: Neutralizing Spiciness in a Public Setting

If you happen to run into a spicy food problem at a restaurant you will not want to be spitting out liquids. Here are the steps for anyone to take in such a scenario:

1. Bring some sugary gum with you

2. Chew the gum for a few minutes (at max)

3. As you would normally do with gum... spit it out discreetly

I hope this has been an informative Instructable. Good luck and have fun in your spicy food adventures!