Some of the burn from Listerine comes from the thymol which is a strong germ killer. It’s the same compound that gives thyme its flavor, used in seasoning food. When just the leaves of the plant are used, it imparts a savory aroma to cuisine. When the essential oil is concentrated, it can cause severe irritation, worse than capsaicin, on contact. That’s what’s in Listerine.
Ancient legends of the kingdom of Pontus tell of the king Mithridates who fought the Roman Empire. He was said to have taken minute quantities of poisons beginning when he was a boy, and was reputed to have built up enough of a tolerance to them to be able to survive poisoning attempts. He gave his name to the verb “mithridate” meaning to gradually build up such a tolerance. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a bizarre poem titled “Mithridates” in which he imagined the king of Pontus omnivorously devouring all kinds of non-food objects in a sort of indiscriminate appetite.
I can already eat Jalapeños and not (generally) find them very hot, but they do make me feel rotten (as do banana peppers, green chiles and raw onions). Can that sort of tolerance be increased?
I find this hard to believe, but nonetheless I’m going to give it a try. If your expenditure saves my poor eyeballs I at least will consider it to be money well spent. And BTW welcome to the good ship SDMB.
Also anybody know how I should of punctuated “….eyeballs I at least will consider…”
I’ve had just the opposite reaction as the OP to Listerine. I’ve gotten so used to it that using Scope or something similar has no effect. It feels so weak. Same thing with alcohol. My favorite tipple these days is Old Weller Antique bourbon, at 107 proof. If I have some Jim Beam, it tastes like water. Same with chilis. I eat jalapenos like they were Tic-Tacs.
Agreed with Kegg, except it doesn’t work at all for me. However, I have a pretty severe reaction to onions (lasts an hour or two usually) with tearing so bad I can’t see and a lot of pain.
