# When you eat a mint and it makes your mouth cool, does it actually drop the temperature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350 "2015-03-30T17:28:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/1 "2015-03-30T17:28:22Z")
Or does it only feel like it has? WAG here, but maybe it does something to your receptors in your mouth to fool you into thinking its cooler? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/2 "2015-03-30T17:46:10Z")
Just as hot peppers do not increase the temperature of your mouth, mints do not decrease the temperature. Mints contain [menthol,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menthol#Biological_properties) which triggers the cold-sensing cells in your body. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/3 "2015-03-30T17:46:49Z")
I think it actually does, because it has menthol, which is an alcohol that does well at feeling cool when it evaporates. I think if you keep your mouth closed so there’s no air flow, you don’t feel the coolness. Or am I a total sucker here? ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/4 "2015-03-30T17:47:55Z")
“Menthol’s ability to chemically trigger the cold-sensitive TRPM8 receptors in the skin is responsible for the well-known cooling sensation it provokes when inhaled, eaten, or applied to the skin.[1] In this sense, it is similar to capsaicin, the chemical responsible for the spiciness of hot chilis (which stimulates heat sensors, also without causing an actual change in temperature).” Wikipedia. Looks like I was a total sucker here. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/5 "2015-03-30T17:48:12Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Just as hot peppers do not increase the temperature of your mouth… I learned this the hard way when trying to get out of school in 3rd grade ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/6 "2015-03-30T17:49:37Z")
The active ingredient in mint (at least for the cooling sensation) is Menthol. If you look up menthol on wikipedia it explains the effect surprisingly clearly. Like capsaicin (the stuff in hot peppers) it activates thermal receptors but doesn’t affect the actual temperature. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/7 "2015-03-30T18:48:29Z")
If you put a hot cinnamon Altiod in your mouth, together with a cool mint Altoid at the same time, it just tastes like sugar. The two cancel eachother. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/8 "2015-03-30T19:36:04Z")
Some also contain sugar alcohols (I believe many do): > [@](#): > > In addition to their sweetness, some sugar alcohols can produce a noticeable cooling sensation in the mouth when highly concentrated, for instance in sugar-free hard candy or chewing gum. This happens, for example, with the crystalline phase of sorbitol, erythritol, xylitol, mannitol, lactitol and maltitol.\*\* The cooling sensation is due to the dissolution of the sugar alcohol being an endothermic (heat-absorbing) reaction\*\*, one with a strong heat of solution.[5] From [Sugar alcohol - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_alcohol) Bold mine And would make it actually lower the temperature of the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-eat-a-mint-and-it-makes-your-mouth-cool-does-it-actually-drop-the-temperature/716350/9 "2015-03-30T19:56:30Z")
All I know is, the drinking fountain at work produces very cold water. And if I take a drink from it right after eating a mint, I feel like the inside of my mouth is about to freeze solid…