Re: [CH] Immunity.

Andy Barnhart (quark@erols.com)
Sat, 13 Feb 1999 22:37:12 -0500

Clyde A Dodge wrote:

> I believe the use of the word immunity or immunize with respect to
> the effect of reduced pain from capsaisin is incorrect.

"Immunity"   is fine with me.  "Resistance"   (from Mark) is also fine.
If I were trying to be precise, I might use "tolerance build up" or
"acclimation".
But, all-in-all, I rather be eating a chile (or going scuba).

> <snip>
> It might be interesting to learn if this insensitivity is permanent
> or if it wears off after a period of disuse.
> <bwg>

Wears off to some degree.  My own experience:
Assuming that one already has some degree of tolerance to chile heat.  A high
degree of toerance can be built up in as little as 1 to 2 hours, see below*.
It slowly starts wearing off after a few hours, but  some amount of high
tolerance can remain for about 6 to 24 hrs.  And a residual tolerance can
remain for an indefinate time.   When you push your envelope, you can rise
your residual.

* A caution here:  & a true story.
For the  beginning of the year, I made a smoky habanero dip the night before.
I decided to make the heat near my enjoyment tolerance level.

I made a trial amount, using some hab powder.  After adjusting the seasonings,
I thought it needed some more hab.  I then made a larger amount in
proportion.  I checked the seasoning, and it needed some more hab.   I decided
to let it sit for a while for the flavors to blend.   I then adjusted the
smoke flavor a bit  -- but it also needed some more hab (well, I knew that
there would be CHs there).  Later on that night, I got it out of the frig, and
checked  it  -- it needed a little more hab (well, maybe the sour cream was
absorbing the heat).

The next morning, I checked it and got a big surprise  -- the sour cream
hadn't absorbed the heat!  With a big, red marker pen I labeled it HOT.   What
had happened was that each time had I sampled it, the sampling raised my
tolerance level.  Now, with just a couple of more samples, it got to the point
that I could actually taste the flavor of the smoked hab powder with out it
getting masked by the heat.

So, if you adjust the hab level of a recipe by tasting, be aware of the
acclimation effect.

Andy.