You’ve seen people doing it on the internet, so you decide to try it yourself. After a single bite tears are coming down your face, you have a gushing runny nose and face spasms. You feel like your whole body is on fire, and you can’t breathe. The only thing you have nearby is a stick of butter. Could that help?
The Carolina Reaper is the hottest pepper on Earth, and it’s rated 1.5 million on the Scoville Heat Scale. That’s a tool used to measure the spiciness of hot peppers. And for reference, a jalapeño is only 3,500. Ed Currie grows this powerful pepper in South Carolina. According to him, a great reason for eating chili peppers is the euphoric feeling people get after eating them. But it can also cause a great deal of damage to your body.
Could eating a hot pepper cause anaphylactic shock? Why would you need to meditate before eating the pepper? How can you prepare your stomach for the burn?
Step 1. Build your tolerance
Hot peppers aren’t made of heat. But it might feel like that thanks to capsaicin, the chemical compound that makes peppers spicy. It makes your brain think that your mouth is burning up. Your body starts sweating to try to cool down. Your eyes tear up, and you’ll get a runny nose. But the real danger comes when you swallow the pepper. You can develop blisters on your throat. If it burns and closes your airways, you could go into anaphylactic shock.
Before you try eating a Carolina Reaper, build your tolerance to spicy foods. Start by eating jalapeños, then hotter peppers like cayenne or scotch bonnet. When you’re used to their heat, you might be ready for the spiciest of them all.
Step 2. Eat a banana
No matter how you try it, eating the world’s hottest pepper will be a painful experience. There is a way you can make the consequences less severe. If you eat a Carolina Reaper on an empty stomach, the capsaicin will irritate your stomach’s lining and cause heartburn, stomach cramps or intense diarrhea. Bananas are an excellent fruit to eat first. They’re high in fiber, smooth and have a quenching property that can help your body handle the pepper’s heat.
Step 3. Meditate
It is essential to prepare your body to tolerate the extreme heat of a Carolina Reaper, but your mind also needs a moment to get ready for the severe pain you’re about to feel. Would you like to use a technique to help you overcome the painful burning sensation of eating this scorching hot pepper? Meditating beforehand can help you achieve that.
Step 4. Find your rhythm
You’ve done all your preparations and it’s time to dig in, but slowly. Don’t gobble it all down at once. You’ll need to find your body’s rhythm when eating these flaming hot peppers. That gives your mouth time to deal with the heat and slightly overcome the pain before you take another bite.
A good strategy is to have some butter handy. Make sure that a thin layer of butter coats your mouth and lips for extra protection from the heat.
Step 5. Drink milk
Now the Carolina Reaper has made its way down into your stomach, chances are you’re burning up from the inside and you’re desperately looking for water. But put the glass down. Drink milk instead to soothe the burn and pain. Dairy products contain the casein protein that can bind to capsaicin and wash it away.
After eating this pepper, your stomach’s acidity increased, and your stomach lining is irritated. An antacid will help your body neutralize the stomach acid and treat any potential heartburn or acid reflux.
Well done. You survived eating the world’s hottest pepper. Hopefully, you’ll stop eating dangerous foods, as some can make you hallucinate. Like poisonous mushrooms. Do you know how to handle those? Find out here on How to Survive.
