FOOD 2010 - Hot Topic #2 PDF

Preview

Summary

Grade: 94...

Description

POPPY SEEDS AND CHILLI PEPPERS: PAINKILLING

2

Humans have been using psychoactive substances since the beginning of time to hallucinate and alter consciousness. Two legal psychoactive foods that are commonly used today are poppy seeds and chilli pepper. The mode of action of the two foods in humans are closely related. Both foods are similar because they both produce painkilling effects, but different because of the actual high that is given by each. The mode of action of chilli peppers is through the capsaicin flavonoid which binds to the S receptors on taste buds. This causes PIP2 to release and an influx of Ca2+ ions, which activates a neurotransmitter (Marcone, 2014). This activation causes beta-endorphin to be released and bind to opioid receptors on the spinal cord. Inhibitory GABA neurotransmitter decreases, and the dopamine neurotransmitter increases leading to the blocking of pain signals to the brain (Marcone, 2014). The mode of action of poppy seeds is through opium (Marcone, 2014). Opium has a similar structure to endorphins and can therefore occupy the same opioid receptors on the spinal cord and produce the same pain signal blocking effects as chilli peppers (Brittanica, 2018). The similarities and differences in chilli peppers and poppy seeds are obvious. Both psychoactive foods are similar because they both produce pain killing effects by binding the same opioid receptors on the spinal cord. Chilli peppers and poppy seeds are different because opium is used commercially in drugs such as morphine to produce an analgesia ‘numbing high’ simply relieving pain without the loss of consciousness, while chilli peppers are aphrodisiacs producing more of a ‘happy high’ fuelled by pleasure and sexual desire. To conclude, chilli peppers and poppy seeds are two legal psychoactive substances. They share similar painkilling effects by binding substances to the same opioid receptor in the spinal cord. The two differ in terms of the actual high given. Humans have been using psychoactive foods for centuries, and poppy seeds and chilli peppers are two predominant ones.

POPPY SEEDS AND CHILLI PEPPERS: PAINKILLING Works Cited Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Opium". Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Dec. 2018, https://www.britannica.com/science/opium. Accessed 16 March 2021. Marcone, M. F. (2014). The Psychopharmacology of Legal Psychoactive Foods. (Second Edition). Toronto, Canada, Nelson Education Ltd.

3...