Nutrition

Could Chili Pepper Consumption Reduce All-Cause Mortality Risk?

Consumption of hot red chili peppers was associated with a 13% reduction in total mortality risk—primarily due to heart disease and stroke—compared with those who did not consume peppers, according to the results of a recent study.1

A large Chinese study published in 2015 examined the effects of chili pepper consumption on mortality, but the effects on a Western population have not been explored.2
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Could Chili Peppers Reduce Risk of All-Cause Mortality?
Could Peppermint Oil Help Mitigate IBS Symptoms?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In order to examine this issue further, researchers measured the frequency of hot red chili pepper consumption in 16,179 participants in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey III.

Over 273,877 person-years of follow-up, 4946 deaths occurred. Overall mortality for those who consumed chili peppers was 21.6% compared with 33.6% for those who did not (absolute risk reduction 12%, relative risk 0.64). After adjusting for demographics, lifestyle, and clinical characteristics, the hazard ratio was 0.87.

“Consumption of hot red chili peppers was associated with a 13% reduction in the instantaneous hazard of death. Similar, but statistically nonsignificant trends were seen for deaths from vascular disease, but not from other causes.”

“These results add to the literature by corroborating the main results of an earlier study. They are distinct in that they are drawn from a different population and thus support the generalizability of the protective effects of hot red chili peppers,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

References:

  1. Chopan M, Littenberg B (2017) The Association of Hot Red Chili Pepper Consumption and Mortality: A Large Population-Based Cohort Study. PLoS ONE 12(1): e0169876. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0169876
  2. Lv J, Qi L, Yu C, et al. Consumption of spicy foods and total and cause specific mortality: population based cohort study. BMJ. 2015;351:h3942.