A Friend Has Challenged Me To Eat A Raw Carolina Reaper - Surely I Can Game This And Do It Safely?

[swampspruce]

This thread absolutley reminds me of the judge at the chili contest joke. Link for those of you who haven’t read it before. FWIW, I put this up there with Horror of Blimps for laughs, especially if you’ve ever been caught unawares by a particularly fiery pepper.

[bordelond]

@Velocity

Hopefully someone can confirm/refute this: Is it true that, although a Reaper’s capsaicin itself isn’t damaging, it causes the body to respond by having blisters welling up all over the internal lining of the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, and intestines, and those are easily ruptured and infected, and that is the real danger of the peppers?

Something’s not right about that – something that causes blisters IS damaging. The physiological mechanism that brings about the blisters hardly matters.

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

@bordelond

Something’s not right about that – something that causes blisters IS damaging. The physiological mechanism that brings about the blisters hardly matters.

Neurons get stimulated by capsaicin, and that can trigger a response; the neuron can release chemotactic factors which mobilize various immunomodulators to the area. The response may be nothing other than the sensation of heat, it could be local redness, or some swelling, or papule formation, or it could even cause blistering, and in rare cases can cause full blown tissue necrosis, if the immune system goes all out.

But mostly it doesn’t cause those types of reactions, and the severe reactions are even more rare. Rare enough that topical capsaicin is approved for sale without prescription.

[nearwildheaven]

Thanks for the update. Looks like your friend took one for the team, and that sufficed for you.

[K2500]

@HeyHomie

We were gathered about the gaming table, waiting to get the sesh started, when Kyle decided he’d had all of the DM’s ribbing he was going to take, so DM cut him off a teeny bit and offered it to him. Kyle cautiously put it to his mouth and started chewing.

He wasn’t in any acute agony, but for the following hour he was visibly uncomfortable, eyes watering, coughing, sweating, and wishing he hadn’t done so. After much beer and the passage of time, he got better.

Sorry to report that there was no vomiting, begging the FSM to mercy-kill him, etc. Just generalized discomfort.

FWIW, dumbass DM had the windows open, and when the wind blew in, it blew the capsaicin from the cut pepper all around the room. Players, pets, we were all coughing and hacking.

That shit is not a toy.

Any report on whether that was enough Reaper to trigger a soothing wet wipe purchase?