Study: Eating spicy food prolongs life

People who eat spicy food everyday live longer than other people, according to research conducted by a group of international scientists on 500,000 people in China. The scientific study of the research group has been published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) following a seven-year project. The article indicated that spicy food lovers have lower risks of dying, compared to people who do not like spices and spicy food. Jun Lv from the University of Peking and his colleagues claimed that the risk of dying from blood circulation diseases, cancer and respiratory tract diseases are 14 percent less among spicy food lovers.

Scientists indicate in their article that "capsaicin," the chemical that makes hot pepper spicy, prevents the production of Krebs cells and keeps the bloodstream and digestive system healthy. Highlighting the anti-bacterial feature of the spices, the scientists stated that a few study participants lost their lives due to an infection. However, they are not sure whether it is related to eating spicy food or not. The scientists enrolled 500,000 people living in different cities in China. The participants informed scientists about their diet every day.

During the study, which took seven years, 22,224 people lost their lives. While 57 percent of the participants ate spicy food once a week, 31 percent ate spicy food six or seven days a week. The remaining 12 percent included spicy food in their diet two or three times a week. The foods featured different types of chili pepper's and spices.

The study indicates that the death rate among women and men are the same. However, those who drank alcohol proved to be weaker than the others. The research was funded by the China Nature Science Foundation, China's Science Ministry and British foundations.