Spicy food prolongs life
Chinese experiment
The way a person eats affects his health, and therefore, life expectancy. There have been many studies conducted on the effects of food on human health. Chinese scientists paid special attention to spices, namely hot pepper.
The research was carried out for 7 years. All this time, a group of subjects several times a week ate dishes with hot peppers. The mortality rate among these people was lower by 14% compared to the control group. The results were published in the British Medical Journal. In the article, scientists suggested that this effect was achieved thanks to capsaicin, which is found in chili peppers.
Content:
- Features of the study
- results
Features of the study
The research that was carried out by the Chinese is truly amazing. Moreover, not only the results obtained, but also the scale. It involved 487,000 different sex participants aged 30-79 years. They all lived in different regions of the country. Prior to starting the study, each participant underwent a medical examination.
Only healthy Chinese people who did not suffer from cardiac pathologies and cancers were allowed to participate in the experiment. All of them provided the organizers of the study with information about their lifestyle and eating habits. Attention was paid to how often they consume spicy dishes, where they work, how physically active they are. During the study, scientists randomly checked people for the veracity of the data they provided.
results
During the 7 years of the experiment, 20,224 people died. The risk of death in those people who ate spicy foods 3 times a week compared with those who ate them less than once a week was 14% lower.
If a person included chili in the menu at least 1-2 times a week, then this risk was reduced to 10%. Gender does not matter in this regard. The dependence was the stronger, the less often the person drank alcohol. Smoking, body weight and physical activity did not affect life expectancy.
If a person ate chili peppers fresh rather than dried, their results were much more impressive. Scientists attribute this fact to the fact that fresh vegetables contain more capsaicin than dried products.
This experiment is not a direct guide to getting people around the world to start eating chili. It is necessary to take into account the state of health and characteristics of the national cuisine of a particular country. It is possible that in another corner of the world a similar experiment will show completely different results.
The author of the article: Gorshenina Elena Ivanovna | Gastroenterologist
Education: Diploma in the specialty "General Medicine" received at the Russian State Medical University named after N. I. Pirogova (2005). Postgraduate studies in the specialty "Gastroenterology" - educational and scientific medical center.
