Eating chilli pepper could help to significantly reduce one’s risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer, according to preliminary research.
A virtual meeting of the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2020 this week (13-17 November 2020) will hear that compared to individuals who rarely or never ate chilli pepper, people who ate chilli pepper had: a 26% relative reduction in cardiovascular mortality; a 23% relative reduction in cancer mortality; and a 25% relative reduction in all-cause mortality.
The results follow the screening of 4,729 studies from five leading global health databases – Ovid, Cochrane, Medline, Embase and Scopus – and the researchers’ final analysis includes four large studies that included health outcomes for participants with data on chilli pepper consumption.
They compared the health and dietary records of more than 570,000 individuals in the USA, Italy, China and Iran and examined the outcomes of those who consumed chilli pepper and those who rarely or never ate it.
Senior author Dr Bo Xu, cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, said: “We were surprised to find that in these previously published studies, regular consumption of chilli 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.
“The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to conclusively say that eating more chilli 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."
Dr Xu said that there are several limitations in the study, including the fact that the four studies reviewed included limited specific health data on individuals or other factors that may have influenced the findings, while the amount and type of chilli pepper consumed was variable among the studies.
Previous studies have found eating chilli pepper has an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer and blood-glucose regulating effect due to capsaicin, which gives chilli pepper its characteristic mild to intense spice when eaten.
Session: CV19.APS.05; Scientific presentation is P1036 CT, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020.
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