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Why does mint feel cold?

The short answer

Mint does not make anything colder. Its menthol opens the tiny cold sensors in the nerves of your mouth, so your brain gets the same message it would get from ice.

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Mint feels icy cold, but it does not make anything colder. Your mouth is being tricked.

What is in mint?

Peppermint is full of a natural chemical called menthol. When you chew mint gum or brush your teeth, menthol reaches the nerves in your mouth.

Illustration from the video: What is in mint?

How does it trick you?

Those nerves have tiny cold sensors that open up when things get cold. Menthol fits into these sensors and opens them, too, even when nothing is cold. So your nerves send your brain the same message they would send for ice.

Illustration from the video: How does it trick you?

Does it work the other way?

And chili peppers do the opposite trick. They open your heat sensors, so your mouth feels hot without any real heat.

Illustration from the video: Does it work the other way?

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