I get blinding migraines. I can't take pills till past a certain point in the migraine's progress - I just throw up. But I can sometimes shunt a migraine into its final stretch with a glug of Sriracha sauce. That's the fiery chili garlic Asian condiment. Swallowed undiluted, it causes more pain than the migraine which limps off towards oblivion.

Apparently, according to scientists at the University of Texas who've been studying chili peppers, that has to be pure hokum. When the body's injured it releases a capsaicin-like fatty acid (capsaicin's the stuff that makes chili peppers burn your tongue) at the site of pain. Called oxidized linoleic acid metabolites (sorry) these cause the pain via receptors. So blocking production of these OLAMs should stop chronic pain.

All I can say is it's a good thing I'm not a mouse in their study or they'd have had to think again. The study leader announced, "This is a major breakthrough...We have discovered a family of endogenous capsaicin-like molecules that are naturally released during injury, and now we understand how to block these mechanisms with a new class of non-addictive therapies."

My non-addictive therapy is Srirachi Sauce. Actually, I am addicted to it...

I'm more persuaded by another study that shows you can get more health value from some vegetables and fruits than from their very similar 'sisters'. So here's a list of switch options:

I can tell you that for me, one teaspoon of mustard taken for migraine has more impact than 2 Nurofen.

Rivetting though this information is, at the end of the day you need variety in your diet to be healthy. No single fruit or vegetable can provide all the nutrients you need.