Eating chili peppers may make you a seasoned veteran for life, according to new research from the American Heart Association.
What’s going on?
The American Heart Association released a new statement that teased findings that will be shared at the upcoming “Scientific Sessions 2020” virtual conference.
The research suggests people who eat chili peppers regularly could live longer because the fruit — yes, chili peppers are a fruit — have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer and blood-glucose regulating properties within them.
- These all play a factor to reduce risk of death, according to the AHA.
The researchers reviewed 4.278 different studies and 570,000 health records to determine these findings, which included people from U.S., Italy, Chin and Iran.
A look at the numbers:
People who ate chili peppers had:
- 26% reduction in cardiovascular mortality
- 23% reduction in cancer mortality
- 25% reduction in all-cause mortality.
Key quote:
- “We were surprised to find that in these previously published studies, regular consumption of chili pepper was associated with an overall risk-reduction of all cause, CVD and cancer mortality. It highlights that dietary factors may play an important role in overall health.” — said the report’s senior author Dr. Bo Xu.
- “The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to conclusively say that eating more chili pepper can prolong life and reduce deaths, especially from cardiovascular factors or cancer. More research, especially evidence from randomized controlled studies, is needed to confirm these preliminary findings.”
That said:
Fox News suggests you don’t take the findings too far: “Although there is data showing that chili pepper eaters appear to have lower risks of dying from a cardiovascular disease or cancer, it cannot be determined with certainty that the spicy plants are solely responsible or contribute to prolonged life.”