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Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

sciencebulletin.org

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Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#3
post #2

Will I live longer, or not? Are hot peppers good for my health, or not? Is the mechanism known, or not? Are they recommended by experts, or not?

Did you RTFA, or not?

There are some possible explanations for red chili peppers’ health benefits, state Chopan and Littenberg in the study. Among them are the fact that capsaicin – the principal component in chili peppers – is believed to play a role in cellular and molecular mechanisms that prevent obesity and modulate coronary blood flow, and also possesses antimicrobial properties that “may indirectly affect the host by altering the gut microbiota.”

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#5
I'll posit an additional theory—that people with gastrointestinal problems don't eat spicy food because it causes discomfort.

But the other part that the article mentions—eating more vegetables and meats—well, most of the spicy foods I can think of are basically vegetables + meat in a spicy sauce.

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#7
post #5

I'll posit an additional theory—that people with gastrointestinal problems don't eat spicy food because it causes discomfort. But the other part that the article mentions—eating more vegetables and meats—well, most of the spicy foods I can think of are basically vegetables + meat in a spicy sauce.

Both points seem plausible to me.

On the second point, while I wouldn't say "most spicy dishes are healthy"...I might agree that spicy dishes are on average, healthier than some other flavor affinities.

Re: Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality

#10
Man, I should live forever then. I love hot peppers. Well, OK, I usually use bottled pepper sauces of various sorts, not whole, fresh peppers themselves. So maybe that doesn't work. But if it's just the capsaicin, then I get plenty of it... jalapeno pepper, cayenne pepper, chipotle pepper, scotch bonnet pepper, habanero pepper, ghost pepper (naga jolokia), trinidad scorpion pepper, carolina reaper peppers... I love 'em all.

Thanks HN, now you have me wanting to cook a big pot of chili that I can pepper up to ludicrous levels of hotness.

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