A bit more spicy lah!
Does eating chilli make you live longer?
We all know that eating healthy food keeps you healthy and indulging in not-so-healthy foods may have a bad effect on you in the long run. Nowadays, there seems to be an endless list of healthy food recommendations. The list keeps on growing, and scientists don’t always seem to agree. So there’s good reasons to remain a bit sceptical. But sometimes there are interesting additions. One food choice that was recently added to the list is a favourite ingredient of many people in the APAC region: chilli pepper.
What’s chilli?
Chilli pepper is a member of the “capsicum” family. While the red capsicum you would buy at the supermarket is not spicy at all, the chilli pepper contains a chemical called capsaicin that gives chilli the well-known kick.
Thinking about sambal and Thai curry, most people would think chilli originates from Asia. But chilli is actually native to South America, Bolivia to be precise. Chilli peppers were introduced to Asia by Portuguese traders at the end of the 15th century as an alternative to black pepper.
The science behind chilli
Studies (Whiting et al., 2021) have already shown that increasing your spice intake could help with weight loss by boosting the ability of your body to burn fat whilst also stimulating the part of your brain that controls your appetite. Chilli is also believed to boost the gut microbiome and reduce inflammation.
More recently, a study (University of Vermont, 2017) found that chilli peppers are even helping you live healthier longer. People who regularly ate chilli peppers had a 13% lower likelihood of death. The researchers found that these people that like to spice up their foods were less likely to die of cardiovascular causes like heart attacks and stroke.
The conclusion that chilli is good for longevity was drawn from looking at data from a large population-based cohort study. Do note that these kinds of studies usually do not give the strongest level of evidence as they are not set up to look deeper into one particular relationship of cause and effect. However, they do give valuable insights that can be further researched in experimental studies.
Add some spice to your life
While chillies might have health benefits, you would always need to add them to an otherwise healthy dish. Getting the Zinger burger instead of the original recipe is not going to make that fried chicken any healthier. But if you can, add an extra chilli pepper to a nice vegetable stir fry!
