[Scott Dumke]

Scott Dumke asked the Naked Scientists:
Why does mint make you feel cold?
What do you think?

[chris]

Hi Scott

This is the thermal neurological equivalent of an optical illusion where nerve cells are chemically fooled into thinking that the air you are drawing into the mouth is colder than it really is.

I recently put this question, at the end of the interview, to David Julius who works on this topic:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/653/

Here's a more formal write-up of the discovery he made relating to temperature detection:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/news/news/827/

And Dalya Rosner also wrote an article about it some years ago:

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/dalyacolumn5.htm/