According to a recent study, people who regularly consume chilli peppers have a reduced mortality risk compared with those who never eat chilis.
Throughout history, cultures have associated various health benefits with eating chili peppers. However, as one of the authors of the recent study, Professor Licia Lacoviello, explains, many of these beneficial properties have been ascribed “mostly on the basis of anecdotes or traditions, if not magic.
In more recent times, scientists have focused on capsaicin, the compound that gives chili their unmistakable punch. According to the authors of the latest study, capsaicin “has been observed to favorably improve cardiovascular function and metabolic regulation in experimental and population studies.
Other researchers have concluded that capsaicin might be useful in the fight against neuropathic pain, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, and even cancer.
In a model adjusted only for age, sex, and energy intake, regular consumption [ four or more times each week] of chili pepper was associated with 23 per cent lower risk of all-cause mortality, as opposed to none/rare intake, and results remained substantially unchanged in the fully adjusted model.
When considering heart disease, the authors found that regular consumers of chili peppers had a 34 per cent lower risk of cardiovascular mortality than those who rarely consumed chili peppers.
The beneficial effect was most pronounced in cerebrovascular-related deaths and ischemic heart disease.
The authors analysed deaths caused by anything other than cancer and cardiovascular disease. Here, too, chili peppers seemed to provide a benefit. The authors write that “regular intakes were associated with [a] lower risk of other causes of mortality
How chili peppers might benefit health is still up for debate, though. Some scientists have theorized that, because capsicum might aid weight loss, this could explain the benefits. However, in this study population, the group that consumed the most chilis had a higher average body mass index (BMI).
