CHINA - Movies and cartoons, and some kung pao experiences, have brought to mind images of white lights and smoking ears when it comes to biting into peppers. But a recent study is arguing quite the opposite: spicing up the food of your life could actually prolong it.
A seven-year longitudinal study examining the diets of nearly 500,000 people showed a 10 percent reduced risk of death in those who consumed chili peppers and other spicy foods one to two times a week, The Guardian reports.Those who ate spicy food between three and seven days a week saw a 14 percent decrease in risk of death.
The study was performed by a team of international authors, led by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and published in BMJ.
It is a debate that continues to heat up (pun intended).
“There is increasing scientific interest in spicy foods. Many potential benefits have been suggested for chilli or its bioactive compound capsaicin, including but not limited to antimicrobial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties, a beneficial influence on gut microbiota, and anti-obesity effects through thermogenesis and appetite, energy balance, and weight management,” Dr. Nita Forouhi, Programme Leader of the Nutritional Epidemiology Program at the MRC Epidemiology Unit and Public Health Physician in Cambridge, UK, wrote in a BMJ follow up.
Questions were raised about the difficulty between correlation and cause when it comes to this form of study because of other factors that could be involved between those who do and do not incorporate spicy foods and chili peppers into their diets.
“Maybe this is something in the way spices are used in Chinese cooking, or [it is] related to other things people eat or drink with the spicy food,” Kevin McConway, Professor of Applied Statistics at the Open University, told the Guardian. He added that the relationship between eating spicy food and a lower death rate was apparent really only in people who didn’t drink alcohol at all, as well as a number of cultural differences that could have contributed to why this pattern was found.
Dr. Forouhi agreed that the study should be seen more as grounds for hypothesis and more questions than a definitive conclusion, though she listed it merited several strengths, such as including ten different regions of China representing both urban and rural settings, a prospective design, and applying statistical methods appropriately. She also commended the authors for acknowledging common epidemiology issues and their efforts to prevent them. But here, conclusion was sound.
“Future research is needed to establish whether spicy food consumption has the potential to improve health and reduce mortality directly or if it is merely a marker of other dietary and lifestyle factors,” she wrote. “The added contribution of spicy food intake to the benefits of a balanced healthy diet and healthy lifestyles also remains to be investigated. However, the current findings should certainly stimulate dialogue, debate, and further interest in research.”
So while the questions still remain, the increase in scientific and consumer interest continues to bring peppers further into the spotlight.
