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Why is it good to cough when drinking olive oil?

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February 2011 Newsletter

Greetings!

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Reader's Choice

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Why Fresh Olive Oil (and Ibuprofen) Make You Want To Cough

Laura S. Kirkley, source, January 28, 2011 - NPR - Richard Knox

Ever wonder about that peppery and irresistible urge to cough you feel at the back of your throat when you slurp some extra virgin olive oil? If you're an EVOO junkies like me (and who isn't?) the answer is yes.

A receptor in the back of the throat seems to recognize an anti-inflammatory agent in extra-virgin olive oil.

So, there is another question. Ever try to swallow an ibuprofen tablet when you didn't have a glass of water around -- and ended up with a burning pain at the back of your throat that took hours to go away? I've had that happen too.

Well, it turns out in a weird coincidence that both sensations are caused by the same thing -- something called theTRPA1 Receptor.

TRPA1 is a protein on the surface of cells at the back of your throat. It's probably there as a defense against noxious chemicals in the air. But it's also uniquely sensitive to EVOO and ibuprofen.

That's interesting to scientists, because the common link is one of the most important phenomena in medicine - inflammation, and chemicals that dampen it.

Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center have discovered that those back-of-the-throat receptors recognize an anti-inflammatory agent in EVOO called oleocanthal. The chemical is a potent inhibitor of an inflammatory enzyme called COX (cyclooxygenase). And that's just how ibuprofen works to reduce inflammation.

Back to that EVOO cough. Connoisseurs of olive oil know that the cough response is a marker for how pungent the oil is - a sign of purity. They even rate EVOOs as one-cough, two-cough, even three-cough.

This pungency is valued in other foods and seasonings - think wasabi, the tear-inducing green mustard served with sushi. Or that indispensable ingredient called garlic. But the same receptor activated by a good EVOO is also responsible for the get-me-outta-here feeling when humans inhale tear gas, tailpipe exhaust, and the acrid smoke that asphyxiates firefighters. The insect repellent in citronella also works by tripping TRPA1.

The Monell scientists point out that the reason TRPA1 makes you cough is that it's positioned at "the last possible checkpoint" before noxious air enters the deep airways to the lungs. The cough is the body's way of expelling the bad air before it does real damage.

So isn't it ironic that humans have transformed a primal defense against noxious fumes into an indicator of gourmet quality? The Morell authors wonder if it might have something to do with the health benefits of anti-inflammatory chemicals?

"We suggest," they write, "that by a process not yet well understood, people have come, perhaps unconsciously, to transform an inherently unpleasant sensation into a positive one because it has beneficial health effects" - namely, anti-inflammatory effects.

More than just curious!

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