Regular intake of chilli peppers could “significantly reduce risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases,” according to a paper presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2020.

The researchers of the study have found that consumption of chilli peppers help in reducing inflammation and is also proven to be anti-cancerous. Chilli peppers are rich in antioxidants which also help in the regulation of blood glucose level.

The study is the first of its kind to compare reported consumption of chilli with disease mortality, as per the MedicalXpress report

For the study, researchers analyzed 4,729 studies from five leading global health databases, these were: Ovid, Cochrane, Medline, Embase and Scopus.

The researchers specifically included health outcomes for participants with data on chilli pepper consumption.

This provided the research team with the health and dietary records of more than 570,000 individuals in the United States, Italy, China and Iran. This also helped them to draw comparisons between chilli consumers and people who do not eat chilli at all.

The findings of the study suggested that there was a 26 per cent relative reduction in cardiovascular mortality in those who consumed chillies. The researchers also reported a 23 per cent relative reduction in cancer mortality and a 25 per cent relative reduction in all-cause mortality among chilli consumers.

Senior author Bo Xu, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute in Cleveland, Ohio said: “We were surprised to find that in these previously published studies, regular consumption of chili pepper was associated with an overall risk-reduction of all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality.”

He added: “It highlights that dietary factors may play an important role in overall health. The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to conclusively say that eating more chilli pepper can prolong life and reduce deaths, especially from cardiovascular factors or cancer.

Limitations

The researchers mentioned certain limitation of the study that includes limited specific health data on individuals; amount and type of chilli pepper consumed were variable among the studies.

The research team said they are yet to provide a complete picture on chilli peppers and their benefits.

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