In a new study, researchers found that eating chili pepper could cut down the risk of death from a heart or cerebral attack.
They found people who consume it on a regular basis have an all-cause mortality risk 23% lower than those who do not consume it.
The research was conducted by a team at the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed in Pozzilli, Italy and elsewhere.
Chili pepper is a common ingredient in Italians kitchens, and over the centuries, it has been praised for its supposed therapeutic virtues.
The team examined 22,811 citizens of the Molise region in Italy participating in the Moli-sani study.
Following their health status for an average period of about eight years and comparing it with their eating habits, the researchers found that in people regularly consuming chili pepper (four times a week or more), the risk of dying of a heart attack was cut by 40%.
Risk reduction for cerebrovascular mortality was more than halved.
The team found that protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed.
In other words, someone can follow the healthy Mediterranean diet, someone else can eat less healthily, but for all of them, chili pepper has a protective effect.
The Moli-sani study is the first to explore the properties of chili pepper in relation to the risk of death in a European and Mediterranean population.
The team says Chili pepper is a fundamental component of our food culture.
Over the centuries, beneficial properties of all kinds have been linked to its consumption, mostly on the basis of anecdotes or traditions, if not magic.
It is important now that research deals with it in a serious way, providing rigor and scientific evidence.
And now, as already observed in China and in the United States, the various plants of the capsicum species, although consumed in different ways throughout the world, can exert a protective action toward health.
New studies need to understand the biochemical mechanisms through which the chili pepper and its capsaicin-containing relatives act.
But for the time being, spicy food lovers surely have one more reason to maintain their habit.
The lead author of the study is Marialaura Bonaccio, a neuromed epidemiologist.
The study is published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
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