Feeling of spicy I have done a survey on my friend When everytime they eat something spicy, They will eat ice or drink icy water. First, Mostly they feel nothing but a cool sensation. However when they finished, they feel spicy again. Sometimes, they will drink warm mill or hot coco. Now everybody feel extremely spicy at first and less spicy afterwards My question is: 1) Why don't I feel spicy when drinking icy water or eat ice? 2) Why do I feel spicy after the action at 1) ? 3) Why do I feel extremely spicy when drinking warm milk or hot coco but less spicy afterwards?

The spicy feeling essentially is the feeling of heat and pain. It is caused by the molecule Capsaicin (< binding to the ion channel TRPV1 (< activating it.

You can temporarily get rid of the pain by cooling (as you would with any other injury) - hence the effect of ice.

Unfortunately, this does not get rid of the cause of the pain, i.e. the molecule bound to the ion channel. Capsaicin is not very water soluble, but only fat soluble. This is why drinking milk helps: it contains microdroplets of fat, which can solvate the Capsaicin, which then can get washed away from the "pain receptor".