The 6 Most Mouth-Wrecking Hot Peppers

There is a certain type of person who loves hot sauce.  And for the spicy mouth, sometimes more is better – but is it ever too much? Eating spice food creates a “high”. Capsaicin, the core of the heat, causes pain and triggers the body to think it’s in danger. In response, the body releases endorphins, which are pleasure causing hormones, this is the body’s way of trying to eliminate the “threat” it feels when you eat spicy food.

Today, there is a new champion in the pain/pleasure hot sauce world. According to Guinness, Pepper X, which, like the Carolina Reaper, was developed by Currie and his PuckerButt Pepper Company, has an average rating of 2,693,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). That absolutely incinerates the Reaper, which has an average rating of 1.64 million SHU. (By comparison, a jalapeno can have a Scoville rating of between 3,000 to 8,000 SHU, while hotter habaneros typically clock in at around 100,000 SHU.)

To put this edible weapon into perspective, here are the next 5 hottest chilis in the world…and the idiots who tried to eat them.

1. Carolina Reaper

Scoville Heat Units: 2.2 million

The chili pepper, which is 100-times hotter than a jalapeño, made it into the Guinness World Records in 2012 for being the world’s hottest.

2. Trinidad Moruga Scorpion

SHU: 2,009,231

Back in 2012, when this pepper held the record for being the world’s hottest, Gizmodo reported that the peppers were so hot, a team of researchers from New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute went through multiple sets of gloves during the harvest of this pepper because the Scorpion’s capsaicin kept penetrating the latex and soaking into the skin of their hands.

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3. 7 Pot Douglah

SHU: 1,853,936

Also known as 7 Pot Chocolate, this pepper is named for its ability to spice 7 pots of stew.

4. 7 Pot Primo

SHU: 1.469 million

Named after horticulturist Troy Primeaux, who created this pepper back in 2006, it reportedly has a nice fruity flavor, if you can get past the heat

RELATED: The Best Way To Cool Your Mouth After You Eat Spicy Food

5. Trinidad Scorpion “Butch T”

SHU: 1,463,700

Named for the scorpion like “tail” at the end of the pepper.

Be advised, be careful when you expirement with the 5 most mouth-wrecking hot peppers