What do peppermints and cigarettes have in common?
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist. And I'm not. And welcome to chemistry for life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life. And before we actually get started with the episode today, we have to shout out a new patron. Somebody joined our super cool community patrons this past week.
Melissa:Yes. I'm so excited.
Jam:Sam in, welcome to the h Bonders tier. Welcome to our super cool community patrons.
Melissa:Sam has been with us as a reviewer for a long time, and he's the infamous question asker who often asks questions that are Some I was already wondering about are really excited about.
Jam:So Yes.
Melissa:We're happy to have you as an hbonder, Sam.
Jam:Absolutely. And if you wanna join our cool community patrons, You can do that at patreon.com/kem for your life. And without further ado, take it away, Melissa.
Melissa:Okay, Jim. This is my Christmas gift to you, my holiday gift our listeners
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:This whole episode is basically just a fun facts episode.
Jam:Oh, nice.
Melissa:But about Peppermint oil and candy canes.
Jam:Nice. Okay.
Melissa:Isn't that exciting?
Jam:It's very exciting. I like it.
Melissa:So I was trying to think about a good way to organize this into a story, but it just kept finding more interesting things. And most of the chemistry, you kind of already know about. So I was like, it would just be more fun to tell you all the interesting things.
Jam:Okay. Yes.
Melissa:So it's like your reward. Only your whole episode is your reward.
Jam:And do I have to remember every fun fact and list them back to you at the end?
Melissa:I don't think so. I guess we can decide as we go.
Jam:Maybe I could just, at the end, share, like, one of when which one, like, was the funnest, factiest to me?
Melissa:Of all. Funniest, factiest of all.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:Banias, Macthias? Yeah. For all
Jam:of humankind this holiday season.
Melissa:All of humankind. That's who you speak for,
Jam:Yes. Okay. You know, this is these are this gift is for everybody, so I don't know.
Melissa:It is. It's a gift for all. Okay. So
Jam:For unto us, this episode was made.
Melissa:That I immediately heard that in the Linus from Charlie Brown voice.
Jam:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:You know how he, like, goes up with his little blanket and starts telling the story?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:I don't think I watched Charlie Brown Christmas last year. I should watch it this year.
Jam:I tried to get my son to watch it, and he was it was just a little too slow for him.
Melissa:Yeah. He was not interested. He was like, Daniel Tiger, I bet.
Jam:Yep. A 100%.
Melissa:Okay. So today's episode, we're gonna talk about candy canes because it's candy cane season.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So candy canes are sugar, Water and peppermint oil.
Jam:K.
Melissa:And do you know what that peppermint oil actually is. Like, take a minute and think what is peppermint oil. What gives candy canes their flavor other than sugar?
Jam:Yeah. Oh, man. Okay. Here's one theory.
Melissa:I feel like you're about to make a joke based on the look on your face.
Jam:One theory is this, that I know that mint is the thing that grows. Mhmm. You know, plant. I've seen it. I've known friends who've grown it and spike that, and they use it for stuff.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:One option could be there's just a variant of that plant that is peppermint Mhmm. That has a different vibe to it and stuff like that. Other theory, just while I'm at it. What if you grew some mint in the same pot as some pepper? And that It's the the nearness gives a different flavor.
Melissa:I knew that you were going to make a joke.
Jam:Just, you know, like, people influence each other. We kinda all off each other. We're all better people from the people that around us. And what if that's the case, if you put some peppers and some mints together?
Melissa:Hope you're gonna make, like, a North Pole joke. Like, Maybe peppermint oil is the oil that come it's like cooking oil in the North Pole. I didn't
Jam:go there. I didn't go there. Yeah.
Melissa:Okay. So you're right. Peppermint is a mint plant. It's a specific it's actually, I think, a hybrid of 2 others, but it occurred naturally as far as People can tell.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:Peppermint oil is mostly made up of Hydrocarbons.
Jam:Ah, I didn't even think about, like, trying to get in the molecular side of it and try to theorize about what it was inside of that.
Melissa:Uh-oh. That's how you Can tell I sort of see the world differently as I assumed that's what you were gonna go. But you're right. So, peppermint oil does come from the plant, and I think they do steam distillation to get the oils out of the leaf. So
Jam:Which we talked about with lavender. Right? It's one of the methods for lavender.
Melissa:Yes. And also, I've noticed that peppermint Tea tastes a little bit different than, like, peppermint oil, and I wonder if that's because it's dried leaves and not the, like, steamed distilled ones.
Jam:Right. Got it. Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:Anyway, so that's what peppermint oil is, and it's mostly made up of hydrocarbons, like I said.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And, you know, sugar and gasoline Celine,
Jam:are some other things that we've talked about that are mostly made up of hydrocarbons? But this really good for our our bodies.
Melissa:Really good for our bodies. Actually, that's one of the things I wanted to take this to share about is recently, I saw one of those, like, oh, this processed food item is 1 atom away from plastic.
Jam:You know? That comes up a lot. Yeah.
Melissa:And I always am like, what what atom? Like, which of the atoms do you think it is? Because plastic and many other things are made up of atoms of carbon, Hydrogen, maybe a little bit of oxygen, sulfur. So it's like these same atoms are repeating in all these different things, and you can combine them in so many different ways to make so many different things.
Jam:Right. Right. And it's also like, what do you think is gonna happen? Like, a sort of an atomic, like, proton collider thing's gonna happen inside our stomachs They'll turn this thing into plastic?
Melissa:Yeah. Exactly. That maybe. Or maybe a a polymer reaction to Polymerize that being into plastic.
Jam:I would say all kinds of reactions happen, but it feels like people make claims like that. It's like they think Something's gonna turn into something completely different Yeah. In our stomachs and kill us.
Melissa:Well, I don't think that's gonna happen, but I I do always like to take the opportunity when I can to say that much like so many other naturally occurring products in our world and man made products our world, like, lavender oil had some of these same basic, components is carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. And they could be combined into so many different ways to make so many different things, which is really the fun of organic chemistry. Like, It's almost like you've got some Legos
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And you can combine them in infinite ways to make different molecules, and that's what nature did for us.
Jam:Dang. Yeah. I like that.
Melissa:So I really love taking the chance to talk about them whenever I can. But also like vanilla extract and lavender oil or extract that we've talked about in the past. Uh-huh. Peppermint oil is complex. There are up to 80 different components of peppermint oil.
Melissa:And I do think we talked about that with vanilla too. Right? The, quote, unquote, pure version is what people say is the one that's, like, naturally extracted from plants.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But that one is often, not a pure one molecule. It's made up of all these different molecules that give it a depth of flavor.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:And peppermint oil is the same way. It's not just 1 molecule that makes up peppermint flavor. It's there's 1 predominant molecule, and we'll talk about that. But there's also a lot of other different compounds that are present that sort of give it a, like, a Depth of complexity of flavor. Okay.
Melissa:So they're not pure when you get them from nature in the sense of, like, 1 purified item.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:It's really a complex mixture that's really hard to recreate, honestly. But the main flavor, Do you could you possibly guess what it is? What the main main flavor component is in peppermint?
Jam:I'm not really sure how to connect the 2 things other than I know that obviously, like oh, I was about to say something, and then it gave me the answer menthol.
Melissa:Yes. What were you gonna say?
Jam:I'm gonna say other than connecting, like, menthol cigarettes. And then I was like, oh, duh. Menthol is the answer I'm looking for.
Melissa:Yes. Menthol is the answer you're looking for yay. So menthol is the main flavor that is present in peppermint oil, and it is also in some cigarettes. It's also in a lot of other things too. And the structure of it is actually Just a 6 membered carbon ring that's sometimes called cyclohexane in for those organic chemists out there.
Melissa:And it has a alcohol group on it, which that's a functional group. We've talked about functional groups before. So, that's just arrangement of atoms in a specific way. So the alcohol functional group is an oxygen or a hydrogen. I sometimes call them Oh groups.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And then also it has 2 other functional groups that are just some carbons. You know? There's a group of 3 carbons and 1 single carbon. We talked about the names for those all the way back the alcohol episode.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So that's the structure. That menthol is also used in other things besides menthol cigarettes. Can you guess what they are? And also people, listeners at home, we want you to guess too.
Jam:Menthol use in other things. I mean, isn't it use in, like, some, like, lotions and stuff? Some skin stuff?
Melissa:It is using some skin stuff. There's one specific one that out in my mind, which is Vicks Vapor Rug.
Jam:Oh, dude. Yes.
Melissa:Yep. The the smell in Vicks Vapor Rug is, like, is stuck in my mind as being paired with menthol. There's some other stuff in there too, but and then it's also using some cough drops Because some I I don't know if our listeners can tell, but I had an annoying cold last week.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And I'm still on the cough drops, And there has been menthol in some of the cough drops I've used.
Jam:Yes. Yes. I used them also a couple weeks ago whenever I had the flu, and then I had just Lasting yuckiness. Yeah.
Melissa:That's what I have, the lasting yuckiness.
Jam:Yeah. And the cough drops and the menthol specifically in them is the thing that Feels like something's happening. Yep. You know what I mean? Even if it really just you're riding out the clock.
Jam:Yeah. That mental life feeling or whatever, is it that what it is? Is that what's causing that feeling in our mouths?
Melissa:Not sure. Ahead, but I'll definitely just go with it. Okay. So, yes, the reason menthol has been used in medicine is because In a similar way that the capsaicin molecules in peppers can bind with our heat receptors
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:The menthol molecules will bind to our cold receptors and make our brain think, oh, a cold thing is happening.
Jam:Oh my gosh.
Melissa:So this is another old episode we could revisit. There were so many little lessons in here that I couldn't just pick 1. So go back and listen to find out isopropyl groups. Go back and listen to find out about how capsaicin works, but meth menthol has a similar function in that It activates, oh, we we must be feeling cold Yeah. And therefore has a slight painkilling effect.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:So you feel that cool instead of pain. Yes. Dead of pain.
Jam:Yes. Yes. Dang. Wow. That's crazy.
Melissa:Yes. And it actually has been used in medicine for several 1000 years. There's even records back to the Greek, Romans, and ancient Egyptians using mint and peppermint. And it's been used in modern medicine, obviously, in cough drops, but Also, it's been used for, peppermint oil specifically Mhmm. Has been used in capsule form to treat IBS.
Jam:Oh, wow.
Melissa:And the there's, like, mixed reviews, but it seems to have a positive effect. I have probably IBS, although it's never officially been diagnosed. And I know several other people who do. And so I was like, wait. For real though?
Melissa:Can we just pop some peppermint oil? That'll be excellent.
Jam:You should track it even if it's just anecdotal or something like that. If it works, why not?
Melissa:If it works, why not?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:That's a good point, and it's not dangerous.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:It's a safe thing to take. You know? We eat it in our peppermints all the time. Yeah. So, it also though can this is pretty amazing to me.
Melissa:Not just a pure oil. They put it in, like, a delivery mechanism sort of, called nanoparticles. It's a little above the Maybe this episode.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:But when peppermint oil and, one of the molecules from cinnamon Were put into this delivery system and put on, medical equipment. Uh-huh. It was shown that it could be used as An antibacterial agent against biofilms, which are colonies of bacteria that get on equipment. Uh-huh.
Jam:So
Melissa:it was effective in that and also showed effective promotion of healing the wounds.
Jam:Interesting. So, you
Melissa:know, we talked about how hydrogen peroxide might hinder that. Yeah. Uh-huh. It seems like there's another throwback to it all, that was shown. It seems like the the, peppermint oil and the cinnamon it's not cinnamon oil, but the, I think it's cinnamaldehyde.
Melissa:Those things will promote healing in addition to being antibacterial. Interesting. And It can act as an antifungal spray for your plants.
Jam:Wow.
Melissa:I know. I mean and again, that's not just like put Peppermint oil on your wounds, and that's an effective treatment. It's not like that. It's like in a specific nanoparticle delivery system, they're working on that. You know?
Melissa:Yeah. And in when used in that setting is when it was specifically shown for the promotion of wound healing. So
Jam:Right. Got it.
Melissa:So this is not medical advice? We're I'm a doctor, I guess. I was about to say we're not doctors. I am a doctor, but not that kind. Yeah.
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. So Talk to your doctor.
Jam:Even when for a second when you said, I'm a doctor, and then you kept going, I wanted to be, like, Melissa, Don't tell people that. Like, they're gonna believe it. They're like, oh, yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:You're like, wait. Wait. Yeah. She is, though, actually. She is a doctor.
Melissa:The not that kind of doctor. There's a p h before the d, not an m. Yeah. So so I already talked about why that that was really helpful in medicine is that, painkilling cooling effect. Uh-huh.
Melissa:But it seems like there's something even beyond that in the antibacterial and antifungal effects. And also very cool that, again, we're seeing, like, oh, this technology seems to work, and there's been this already has been used in Indigenous and ancient knowledge, you know, in medicine again. I'm like, oh, what else do they have to tell us? Yes. What other things can we learn from ancient medicine?
Jam:And, you know, you know, I love to speculate.
Melissa:Uh-huh.
Jam:This is not science, but I wonder if the early folks that were using menthol, Things that haven't been thawed in it. Peppermint oils, whatever else. If it was a big part of it was just that it feels like something. You know? Yeah.
Jam:Here's that thing. It's like I feel it's working?
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:It's, like, oh, we're feeling something that, like, my mouth feels cold, or my wound feels like a tingle Yeah. From the cold of it. I wonder if there's some part of it that people are, like, I mean, it feels like something. Yeah. It's like the science was there.
Jam:Yeah. And also it has the helpful actual sort of tangible Yeah. Effect that not everything has.
Melissa:It feels better. And on the deep down level, it's It is better.
Jam:Yes. Yes. I wonder if that helped the, like, adoption of just like, hey. Let's use this stuff some more. I mean, it Yeah.
Jam:Who knows? But it feels good.
Melissa:Well, also, I I always think about that. Like, there's a episode of Radiolab where these history Professors. I think they were history professors. Uh-huh. But they were also civil war reenactor buffs.
Jam:Oh, I kinda remember that. Is it
Melissa:civil war? Anyway, they and found this really old medicine book, and they recreated the medicine in it. And they're like, it was more like brewing a potion than creating medicine, And it was effective in killing colonies of bacteria.
Jam:Yeah. I I very, very fuzzily, vaguely remember that episode. You're kinda bringing it back. But
Melissa:That was probably my first introduction into the idea that, like, ancient practices know A lot more than we thought that they did.
Jam:Yeah. That
Melissa:Yeah. Western civilization, quote, unquote, gave them credit for. Yeah. Very cool.
Jam:Yeah. That's awesome.
Melissa:Okay. So that's why it's been used in medicine, but it's also been used in cigarettes, which I wrote on my notes is Sort of like the opposite of this. Yeah.
Jam:Leave it to us to take something that is Could be good for us and find a way to make it bad for us.
Melissa:Just a paradigm of some tobacco and smoke it.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So menthol cigarettes are actually some of the most dangerous cigarettes, and there is currently a push for them to be banned in the United States. Can you guess why?
Jam:This is
Melissa:such a fun episode. I'm having a great time.
Jam:I am too. I also love, there's so many questions for me to think about as we're going.
Melissa:Active learning practices.
Jam:Okay. Here's a here's a, wild guess or whatever. Does the pairing the menthol with the other stuff that's going on in there in the cigarettes? Does it create higher chance of, like, radicals and stuff like that?
Melissa:That's a good guess.
Jam:Cancer? Or is it somehow, Like, affect the mucus lining in our mouths and Make the other bad stuff in cigarettes worse?
Melissa:So that's what I was thinking at first when I saw that they were banned is that it must be something like that, but it's actually Because of the flavor and the pleasant cooling and painkilling effect. Okay. The same reason we put it in cough drops, people put it in cigarettes. And that means that according to MD Anderson, the cancer center website Uh-huh. People who smoke menthols tend to inhale more deeply and have a harder time quitting smoking.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So the health effects of smoking have a disproportionate impact on those who have a higher rate of menthol use.
Jam:Right. You make the cigarettes tastier. Yep. You're gonna smoke them more and not wanna quit.
Melissa:Yes. Exactly. Okay. That makes sense. This painkilling and, like, soothing effect so you can I don't know if that's why you can breathe more deeply?
Melissa:I'm not a cigarette smoker, but That seems to also play a role in the fact that you're breathing more deeply when you breathe in this menthol.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So they In 2009, all flavors except menthols were banned.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And now they're working towards banning menthols as well in 2022. In April of 2022, I saw something come up that they're working. FDA, I think, is being petitioned to ban Yeah. Menthols.
Jam:Dang. Interesting.
Melissa:I know.
Jam:I really was thought it was gonna be something that was, like, an unintended sort of consequence of, like
Melissa:Me too.
Jam:Menthol also just does this other thing in our Mouths or laundry
Melissa:Yeah. Yeah. That's what I thought. Like, oh, it must be fine to eat, but if you breathe it in, that's dangerous or something.
Jam:And also the reason I even said went down that, like, weird hypothesis about the mucus lining is because I read somewhere that's true about drinking alcohol and smoking anything. Is it alcohol? And this is, you know, this is me remembering something I read, so don't you know, I'm not I'm not the chemist, remember. But just that that kind of something like that makes sense that it would affect the the basic sort of chemistry of our mouths, to drink alcohol, and then to smoke With with things we already know that have consequences on our our bodies Yeah. And it just makes that effect comp combine not so good.
Melissa:That's a good that was a good hypothesis. And I do always like to give people a chance to guess and wonder because I feel like Even if you don't come upon the quote, unquote right answer, it's like a chance to think and come up with something that's beneficial. Like, you taking a chance on that and, like, thinking is powerful. And, also, it's like, well, you might be wrong, but it's not the end of the world. And that's good too.
Jam:And how cool would it have been if I was right?
Melissa:That one time I asked you about the air pressure on tires, I tell people about that.
Jam:Oh, yeah.
Melissa:I'm like, listen. One time, He knew the answer before I even asked.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And you got to the molecular level. I mean, like, I I sometimes give presentations about chemistry for your life, and that is like that that moment was felt as if I had arrived. That was when I knew You did have a good understanding of chemistry because you thought about the gas in the tires. You thought about the way the molecules moved. You thought about the way that putting heat in or Taking heat away Mhmm.
Melissa:Made the molecules move differently, and you translated that into pressure. And I was like, ah.
Jam:Yeah. And it was tough about that one. It was, like, cool about that one is, like, there is a common sense element that, like, you probably could ask a bunch of folks, and they would give you An answer that's accurate.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:But it would be mostly based on common sense and experience with tires and tire pressure and air pressure. But then I would not have had without the podcast is a way to think about it at that Caste is a way to think about it at that molecular level. Right. The differences of gases or any state of matter at different energy levels, at different Yeah. Temperatures and stuff like that.
Jam:I wouldn't have thought that way. Yeah. And still often, and lots of things don't. But in that case
Melissa:You got it. I got it. So that's why even if you maybe can't come with the best answer right in the moment. I still think it's valuable to take a chance and ask those questions. Yeah.
Melissa:And, like, I wouldn't have thought you would have guessed radicals. Great job. Right. So I love that. I thought that was really fun.
Jam:It's like there's a there there could be some very interesting Wrong answers
Melissa:to hear that
Jam:are at least interesting tech of Zenith.
Melissa:And, hey, maybe whatever you come up with could lead you down a path did you know? Wow. Oh, I guess people won't necessarily this I instantly got excited about this example, and then suddenly realized that was only exciting to chemists. Oh, okay. Something that won a Nobel Prize that basically was an accident that he discovered it.
Melissa:Like
Jam:Oh, dang.
Melissa:He was trying to make something else. And we have these things called columns where you, like like chromatography where you separate things out like the coffee filter.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And we talked about that on the mosquito episode. And he took Some molecules that came off of this chromatography this, like, way of doing chromatography, he, like, collected a vial and put it off to the side, and it The next day, he came back, and it was, like, these beautiful crystals. This was a story that was told to me. Uh-huh.
Jam:And then
Melissa:he was like, what are these crystals? I gotta know. And so then he went and looked into that and was able to find out something that was really, really useful for the people who are in chemistry world, their crown ethers.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:At least that was a story that was told to me. I wasn't there.
Jam:Yeah. I love accidental discovery stories. I mean, even if I don't finish them, what was discovered? Mhmm. That's just, like, the best.
Melissa:Yeah. I think it's so cool. And I did that as some things. And what happened with Dylan?
Jam:Oh, yeah. I'm pretty sure. Yeah. I'm pretty sure that and, like, several different artificial sweeteners have Yeah. Were accidental.
Jam:I think we talked about that in the That podcast too.
Melissa:So if you're ever, like, wondering and you're not right, it's okay because both of these Nobel Prize winning things Yeah.
Jam:Because it doesn't Venezuelan win a Nobel Prize? If it didn't, I mean
Melissa:It should have.
Jam:Honorary at this point.
Melissa:These big ideas were accidents. Yeah. We're technically mistakes. Yeah. So mistakes are good.
Melissa:Yeah. They're they're valuable and beneficial. Okay. That was a tangent. We're on I'm, like, so excited to talk about this.
Melissa:I'm like, I'll tell you all about my teaching philosophy too. I didn't take my ADHD medicine today. It's worn all off, so you're getting the raw, unfiltered version of me. Okay. So yes.
Melissa:Back to what we were talking about. In 2009, all flavors except menthols were banned in cigarettes, and now they're working towards banning those as well. K. And, one thing that's interesting about this, and we've talked about this a little bit before on the podcast, But menthols have been specifically marketed to people of color
Jam:Ah.
Melissa:Which is they've targeted this population, and you'd think like, Oh, maybe that's not that big of a deal, but the breakdown of use by race in the United States is 85% of black smokers smoke Smoke menthols
Jam:Wow.
Melissa:Compared to 30% of white smokers smoking menthol.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:And then other populations like Hispanic smokers, it's about 46%, and Asian Americans, it's about 39%. And and really, hopefully, people aren't smoking. Right? Smoking's not good for you. But because of what we talked about about the fact that people who smoke menthols in tend to inhale more deeply and have a harder time quitting smoking
Jam:Yeah. That
Melissa:means that these populations are disproportionately affected by the health effects of cigarettes. They're even more on a greater, Having a greater impact. So Yeah. Those communities are placed at a disadvantage based on the fact that they were marketed to in this way.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So by working towards it it doesn't seem like this. Right? Like, you know, oh, we're just gonna ban menthols because it's better. But Getting rid of something like menthols being on the market is actually evening out some of the effects of those people who are smoking. Hopefully, it'll be more even
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And work towards, you know, a a more equitable system.
Jam:That's that's what's so sad to me about, like, just Advertising and science almost being completely at odds. I know. Advertising, depending on the thing obviously, I'm making really general statements.
Melissa:Yeah. Nothing.
Jam:Advertising wants to use only as much science as helps it sell more. Yeah. You know? It's just their the interest for a long time in many industries, not every, is Not about you know? It's only about the bottom line of how much you're selling.
Jam:Yeah. And if you think you could sell more by doing something That's maybe 9 of the best. They did it.
Melissa:Yep. They did. Yep.
Jam:And it's just it's sad because I'm like, okay. We're having to basically Slap the risks of this industry, but you can't advertise at all anymore because guess what? You guys did it all the wrong way.
Melissa:Bad things.
Jam:You did bad.
Melissa:You're in time
Jam:In fact, we're gonna take these products away, because you just yeah. It's one thing for people just to choose things that aren't the healthiest. Nothing if you, like, trick them.
Melissa:Yeah. You advertise to that population. You make this population think in some way, if they have this product, it's gonna feel better. Yep. Yeah.
Melissa:So that makes me really sad. And, also, just thinking about what what is going on like that now. Like, what are we being advertise to you. Yep. What is my demographic being targeted in?
Melissa:Like Yeah. I think maybe sodas. Listen. I love sodas. Yeah.
Melissa:But I think that they're really bad for you. Yeah. And but I still drink them, like, on occasion, you know, like, once or twice a week, which is probably way more than I should. Yeah. But it's like, oh, this is something that I like.
Melissa:It's a treat. I enjoy it. And so you justify even though it doesn't have really any nutritional value, And all signs point to negative nutritional value.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:I wonder if, like, there's a similar mentality in older generations, especially about Cigarettes. Yeah. So, yeah, it just makes you wonder what what we're being advertised to.
Jam:Yeah. What will science so clearly Prove Yeah. Or at least, like, really be hard to disprove in the future that we all thought Was totally fine. Totally normal.
Melissa:Yeah. That's kind of
Jam:a scary thought.
Melissa:It is. It's wild. So, anyway, I just wanted to share, Those fun facts about candy canes. We got some little candy canes to fill up a Christmas tree jar that we have, and I was like,
Jam:What what
Melissa:is going on in there? Yeah. And then I thought it'd be a fun episode to share so close to the holiday time.
Jam:I love that. I love it. I also just loved all their yeah. All the fun facts.
Melissa:Yeah. It's just so random.
Jam:Whole episode of fun facts.
Melissa:It's it was fun facts, and Maybe because we've laid the foundation of, like, oh, you already know what hydrocarbons are Mhmm. Because we've had an episode on that. Yeah. We you already know what functional groups are because we've had an episode on that. You we already talked about the mechanism that capsaicin uses.
Melissa:So instead of having to get into the nitty gritty of those chemistry lessons, now we're applying old chemistry lessons in a new way.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And so you got 3 reviews in, like, 1 episode. You know? And for those of you who are just joining us, you can go back and listen to those, and maybe this episode would be a little bit easier to follow. But It's just like, oh, yay. We're learning chemistry, and now we're building on that foundation to where you can follow along.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:Very exciting. But it does kinda put you at a disadvantage because now you don't have a lesson to teach back to me.
Jam:I mean, it's okay. The advantage was that I got to hear a cool episode, so I don't know. You tell me.
Melissa:Do you wanna share, something that stood out to you about this episode or something that he would tell someone on the street next time you see them eating a peppermint?
Jam:Oh, definitely. I think the the the most, like, memorable thing for me going forward will probably just be the linkage to Menthol and the cooling feeling to spicy food and the hot pain feeling.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:And that there's a similar there's similar things at at play there, And that those lessons are way more linked than what I thought. You know what I mean? Yeah. Maybe I could have guessed that if you I would given enough options opportunities, but the feeling is super different. Yeah.
Jam:They both Give it a tangible feeling in our mouth more than other foods that we eat, but I would not have thought it was exactly The same thing happening. So that is super cool. So I would tell someone on the street, hey. Do you know that temperament? What's happening in your mouth right now is similar to what happens when you eat really spicy foods.
Melissa:A good one.
Jam:Different. I bet that would hook somebody. They'd be like, tell me more.
Melissa:When I did go to a, curly hair salon Uh-huh. They washed my hair with a cleansing shampoo thing that was peppermint, and my whole head was tingly. And I was like, is is my head gonna fall off? Am I having an allergic reaction? But it was that feeling.
Melissa:It was that cooling feeling, but on my head, which I've never had that there before. So, now next, I wondered, like, oh, that was weird. And next time, if I go back there, it'll be like Yeah. I know what this is from. Yeah.
Melissa:So that's kind of fun because I also hadn't made the connection between those 2. And my stomach did seem less upset when I was sick than it had.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And I I when I was writing this episode, I read the facts about IBS to my husband, and I was like, What if what if Yeah. This is why my stomach has been less upset? Yeah. Amazing. So who knows?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:You might wanna go look up the information about IBS and peppermint if you're one of the the new phrase on the Internet is hot girlies with Stomach issues.
Jam:That's funny.
Melissa:Alright. Well, thanks, Jam, for, coming and learning about the chemistry of menthol. And thanks to all of our listeners. It's so fun that we get to come here and have a conversation about science every week and Share the chemistry underlying what you're, what you're doing in your everyday life.
Jam:And thank you for teaching us. Super fun, super factual episode. Loved it. And if you've got ideas or questions or thoughts or things you wonder in your body life that might be chemistry, please reach out to us. Melissa and I have a lot of ideas ourselves, but we love hearing from you guys, and the best ideas come from you all.
Jam:So if you have questions or ideas, you can reach out to us on our website at kimforyourlife.com. That's kimforyourlife.com. If you'd like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, Go to patreon.com/kem for your life or tap the link in our show notes to join our super cool community of patrons. If you're not able to do that, you can still help us by subscribing on your favorite podcast app and rating and writing review in Apple Podcasts. They'll also help us share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life is created by Melissa Coleenie and Jam Robinson. Jam Robinson is our producer, and this episode was made possible by our financial supporters over on Patreon. It means so much to us that you want to help us make chemistry more accessible to even more people. Those supporters are Nicole c, Timothy p, Bree m, Chris and Claire s, Hunter r, Steven b, Avishai b, Chelsea b, Christina g, Emerson w, Shadow, Brian k, Suzanne s, Jacob t, Lynn s, and Sam n. Thanks again for everything you do to make chemistry for your life happen.
Melissa:It would absolutely not without you.
Jam:We'd also like to give a special thanks to Ekalini who reviewed this episode. And if you'd like to learn more about today's chemistry lesson, check out the references this episode, on our show notes or on our website.
