Hot News: A spicy diet leads to a longer lifespan
Want to stick around Planet Earth for much longer? Then you may want to amp up the heat level of your food!
If you enjoy your meals on the spicy end of the spectrum, science has good news for you: You’re likely to have more years to indulge your fiery tastes than those who shy away from the heat.
A recent study from China has found that eating spicy food frequently is linked to a slightly lower risk of an early end. The study involved 500,000 participants from China’s Kadoorie Biobank who were asked how often they ate hot, spicy food. The participants, aged 30 to 79 were then followed up by the researchers between 2004-2008, during which time about 20, 000 of them died.
Those who consumed spicy food one or two days a week were 10 percent less likely to die during the study compared to those who ate spicy food less than once a week. In addition, those, who ate spicy foods three or more days a week were 14 percent less likely to die during the study, compared to spice-aversed folks who consumed less spicy food in a week.
Eating chilli-rich foods were also linked to lower mortality rates from cancer, ischemic heart diseases and respiratory diseases. However the study was observational and more research is definitely needed to make a causal case for the longevity effects of chilli.
“It appears that increasing your intake moderately, just to 1-2 or 3-5 times a week, shows very similar protective effect,” was the verdict from associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health, Lu Qi who led the study. “Just increase moderately. That’s maybe enough.”
Well, longevity or not, we’re not one to turn down a good spicy meal! Especially if it’s our good old chilli crab!
Karen George
