Eating spicy food 3-7 times a week can decrease cardiovascular risk by 14 percent. (Photo : Wikimedia)
A new study reveals that eating spicy food can reduce the risk of developing deadly diseases like cancer, stroke and other cardiovascular related diseases. Scientists believe that consuming spicy food can ultimately prolong life.
Prior studies that tested on smaller sample size populations suggest that spices possess bioactive ingredients such as capsaicin that are highly beneficial for a healthy, longer life. With this new study, researchers are now determining the relationship between daily consumption and regular eating habits of spicy dishes among Chinese adults.
Researchers utilized data from the China Kadoorie Biobank study that is made up of 512,891 participants between the ages of 30 to 79 years old from 10 different locations around China, within a study period of 2004 to 2008. The survey questioned the participants comprised of 199,293 men and 288,082 women about their eating habits involving spicy food, alcohol consumption and sources of spicy food including their overall state of health.
During the survey, the participants were asked about how much their spicy food intake is by choosing from different categories such as never or almost never, occasionally, 1-2 days a week, 3-5 days a week or 6-7 days a week. Those who have chosen the last three categories were asked more about their sources for spices which are classified into fresh chili pepper, dried chili pepper, chili sauce, chili oil and others.
The researchers then selected those five percent of the participants and conducted tests on them after two months and four months. The study group consisting of 1,300 members completed the two surveys after 1.4 years.
After a period of several years, scientists performed follow up investigations where those who ate spicy food 1-2 times each week had a 10 percent decrease in mortality risk compared to those who ate less than once a week. There is also a 14 percent reduced risk for those who consumed spicy food 3-7 times a week to those who rarely ate spices.
According to study author Lu Qi of the Harvard School of Public Health, now we know about the confirmed beneficial effects of spicy food where ingredients found in chili peppers are aiding the process of metabolism for favorable effects on weight and even gut bacteria.
This new study is published in The BMJ journal.
