system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: why does eating a mint make my drinking water feel colder?
gpt
I can answer this! So the human body has a family of receptors referred to as the TRP channel family. The most well known member is the TRPV1, or hot pepper receptor. This receptor is activated by both hot peppers and heat above 35-40 degrees Celsius. Another member of this family is the TRPM8 receptor which is activated by cold, and you guessed it, menthol present in mint. So when you eat mint, this activates the TRPM8 channel, and will give you the same sensation of cold as actual cold does. So this channel is active and it's resulting in positive voltage into primary sensory neurons which then send the message to the brain that there's cold. So when you drink water with or directly after mint, you are effectively tricking your brain into thinking the water is cold through coincident activation of the same receptor.