Spice Up Your Life!

* the opinions expressed are those of the author and not Nutrition Ink.

Are spicy foods making us live longer? Research shows that consuming spicy foods is

associated with reduced risk of mortality. A study was done with both men and women

aged 30- 79 years old. Participants who consumed spicy foods 6-7 times a week had a

14% reduction of mortality. So, what is the ingredient in spicy foods that suggest this

evidence? The chili pepper contains an ingredient called capsaicin that carries a number

of benefits. These benefits include reducing cancer risk, lower blood

pressure and boost metabolism. These spices are known to increase lipid catabolism,

which can protect you from hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) and obesity. Being

protected from these two can help reduce hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and

cardiovascular disease. Not only does chili have these benefits, they have shown to get

rid of the bad bacteria in the stomach to create a healthy gut. Having a healthy gut can

reduce the risk of diabetes, liver cirrhosis and cancer. Reducing this risk can reduce the

risk of mortality. In conclusion, spice up your life; after all, it has a variety of benefits that

can aid in longer life.

References

Consumption Of Spicy Foods and Total and Cause Specific Mortality: Population Based Cohort Study

Lu Qi-Canqing Yu-Ling Yang-Yu Guo-Yiping Chen-Zheng Bian-Dianjianyi Sun-Jianwei Du-Pengfei Ge-Zhenzhu Tang-Wei Hou-Yanjie Li-Junshi Chen-Zhengming Chen-Liming Li - https://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3942

The Association Of Hot Red Chili Pepper Consumption and Mortality: A Large Population-based Cohort Study

Mustafa Chopan-Benjamin Littenberg - https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0169876