At the end of the fourth season of cobra kai, Miguel decides to go to Mexico in search of his father, so the fifth begins with him in full search and Johnny and Robby following his steps to take him back home. The arrival in the Latin American country is full of adventures and misadventures that end with the car of father and son in the crane. Since they don’t have enough money to collect it from the warehouse, Robby offers to participate in a spicy eating contest. In fact, they eat some of the spiciest in the world, supposedly. This is where the scientific part of this whole thing comes into play. Each of the contestants has a glass of milkwho does not hesitate to drink when the heat of the chiles becomes unbearable.
We have all heard that milk is the perfect antidote to spicy. We may even have tried it once. Just as we have been able to verify that drink only water It’s not much of a relief. But what is all this due to?
The key, as in so many other matters of our day to day, is in the chemistry. Specifically in the composition of the capsaicin, responsible for the hot flavor of chili peppers, and in some of the ingredients in milk. Of course, according to some studies, there could be much better antidotes than this. Will the writers of cobra kai?
The role of capsaicin in spicy
Hot peppers contain capsaicin, a substance that binds to TRPV1 receptors of the cells of the mouth. These respond to a multitude of stimuli, from increased temperatures to very low pH, and when turned on activate pain neurons. Therefore, when we eat spicy we feel a sensation of pain and burning similar to the one we experience drinking something very hot or very acidic (low pH).
If we look at the composition of the capsaicin molecule, we will see that it has a carbon and hydrogen tail. This makes it a molecule lipophilic or, what is the same, with an affinity for fats. in turn is hydrophobic. That is, it does not have that same affinity for water. And this is where the trick lies to reduce the heat of the spiciness.
We must look for fatty substances or those that are also lipophilic, so that the capsaicin can mix with them and not join the TRPV receptors1. Water is useless, so when we drink it, the itching does not calm down. At most, if it’s cold, it can reduce the temperature of the mouth and temporarily soothe it, but it will do little good. Instead, milk has high doses of a protein, called casein, which is also lipophilic. Also, whole milk contains a lot of fatso it would be a win win.
However, in 2019 a study was carried out in which the efficacy of different types of milk was tested and it was concluded that, in fact, casein is much more important than fat. In fact, there was practically no difference between whole and skimmed milk. Those that are useless against the spicy are vegetable drinks, since they do not have casein.
Other remedies, beyond milk, that could have been used in ‘Cobra Kai’
We have already seen that milk can help us avoid the unpleasant burning sensation of hot peppers, which is why it is used in contests such as the one that appears in cobra kai. However, there are some problems. On the one hand, there are people with lactose intolerances or allergies to milk protein, that they shouldn’t take it. In the first case, it might not be a problem if they just rinse their mouths with the milk, without swallowing it. However, with an allergy we should not risk it even with that.
In addition, milk greatly alters the flavor that leaves the spicy in the mouth. And unless we’re doing it just for the money, like Robby in cobra kai, the normal thing is that we take spicy because we like how it tastes. For both cases, other options have been studied. And, in fact, it has been discovered that there is some that does not have these disadvantages and, in addition, is more effective than milk. It is water with sucrose.
In a July 2022 study it was seen that this sweet mixture could reduce the heat of the spicy more effectively than milk. In fact, it was found that a sucrose solution at 10% and at 20 °C it was just as effective as milk at 5°C. Therefore, in the milk the temperature could be influencing, but not in the water with sucrose.
The problem is that it is sweet and could also modify the flavor of the spice a little, but not as much as milk. Ultimately, both options seem valid, according to science. In cobra kai they opted for milk, both in the contest itself, and Robby afterwards, when he drinks from a large bottle on the return trip. It could have been sucrose water, but it would have been less recognizable. Certainly no less effective.