GOOD NEWS, IF you’re mad for the hot sauce. New research associates hot spicy food with a longer life.
Data was collected and analysed from 450,000 participants, and it was discovered that people can cut their overall risk of death down 10 percent if they ate hot food such as chili peppers more than once a week.
OR, a ton of hotsauce on a Boojum burrito, yes?
If you want to go even bigger, those who had spicy food more than six times a week had the risk of death fall 14 percent.
Lu Qi, an associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health co-authored the study published in the BMJ this week. He said it’s just the beginning of examining the benefits of hot food.
There is accumulating evidence from mostly experimental research to show the benefit of spices or their active components on human health.
The study, carried out in China, also found that those who consumed spicy food were also at lower risk of death from cancer or ischemic heart and respiratory system diseases, and points to capsaicin, a bioactive ingredient in chili peppers which has a range of health benefits.
Of course, there are some noted limitations to the study, including a single culture studied, their other dietary and lifestyle habits, as well as benefits other spices used may have contributed to the participants’ diets.
Still, bring on the hot sauce.
ht Livescience
