Re: [CH] beta endorphins?

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Babs Woods wrote:
>        I *think* we've covered this so it may be a review, BUT in
>looking at issues of exercise and weight loss I ran across the comment
>that exercise releases beta endorphins.  What kind of endorphins does
>capsaicin (dealing in generics with both as there are several capsaicins
>and several endorphins) induce?  I mean, chilis are lowfat, high fibre,
>high nutrition, so it looks like a win overall as it is, but what else?

In "The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia" by Dave DeWitt this is covered. There's
about 1/2 page on this (pg. 230). It is a theory by Dr. Frank Etscorn
concerning why people like hot peppers. The experiment that he performed is
described. I don't think he actually measured endorphins or determined which
type (from the way that the experiment is described). Anyway, the book does
say "These endorphins, of course, are the same ones that cause the so-called
runner's high,..."

By the way, I have read (in a reliable source) that most of the good feeling
that comes from exercising is from serotonin and not endorphins. To get good
endorphin release takes a lot of exercise, such as running a marathon. It's
possible (this is my speculation) that serotonin might explain differences
in reactions to hot peppers, since people that are naturally high in
serotonin are less sensitive to pain.

--Mark

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