Can Red Chili Peppers Extend Your Lifespan?

Do you enjoy nothing more than a spicy curry or a serving of chilli fried rice? Each time you enjoy spicy food, you may just be expanding your lifespan as well. According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Vermont, the consumption of red chilli peppers has been found to a reduce rates of mortality.

Red Chilli Peppers For a Longer Lifespan?

The study, which was published in PLoS ONE collected data from the National Healthy and Nutritional Examination Survey about the eating habits of over 16,000 Americans. The data followed the participants for up to 23 years and examined their hot red chili pepper consumptions as well as other lifestyle habits.

The data found that those who consumed chilli peppers regularly had a 13% reduction in mortality especially in deaths caused by heart attacks and strokes. It also found that people who ate more red hot chilli peppers were likely to be “younger, male, white, Mexican-American, married, and to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and consume more vegetables and meats … had lower HDL-cholesterol, lower income, and less education.”

The researchers are unsure exactly why peppers can help delay mortality but suggest that it may be due to capsaicin, a component of chilli peppers which has been found to possibly prevent obesity and improve blood flow.

“Although the mechanism by which peppers could delay mortality is far from certain, Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels, which are primary receptors for pungent agents such as capsaicin (the principal component in chili peppers), may in part be responsible for the observed relationship,” say the study authors.

The study author also suggest that further research is needed to determine whether chillies should become a larger part of people’s diets.