Eating more peppers can help you live longer? Study finds: Eating chili regularly can reduce the risk of death, how much is good?
The 33-year-old brother Qin (pseudonym) lives in Chongqing and enjoys three meals a day, especially the local hot pot, which he eats at least 4 or 5 times a month.
Last year, the company's physical examination found that brother Qin had Helicobacter pylori, but he did not pay attention to it. He just took medicine for treatment and did not review it.
As a result, during the physical examination this year, the doctor found that his stomach was abnormal. After a detailed examination, when the result came out, Brother Qin was stunned: it turned out to be a malignant tumor of the stomach! Brother Qin regretted a lot, and reflected on whether he had stomach cancer because he liked spicy food too much .
1. Eating too much chili not only hurts the stomach but also induces gastric cancer?
Every time we finish eating chili, our stomach feels like a fire is burning. As a result, it will create an illusion of "eating spicy food hurts the stomach". Is chili really a beast?
In fact, peppers are not the culprit behind gastritis and ulcers. According to the statistics on the distribution of gastric cancer in Peking University Cancer Hospital, cities that like spicy food have a relatively low rate of gastric cancer .
Studies have shown that Helicobacter pylori and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the main causes of gastritis and ulcers.
After eating chili, the reason why people have a feeling of "hot hand destroying flowers" is mainly because of the "capsaicin" it contains. However, in recent years, many studies have found that a small amount of capsaicin can accelerate gastric motility and blood circulation , and promote the secretion of gastric mucus. Gastric mucus is an important barrier in the stomach, so capsaicin also has a certain function of repairing the gastric mucosa.
2. Is eating spicy food for a long time beneficial or harmful to the body?
Many people will feel various discomforts in the body after eating spicy food, so they think that eating too much spicy food is harmful to the human body. In fact, there are many benefits of eating more chili peppers.
1. Reduce the risk of death
A large prospective cohort study published in the British Medical Journal by a research team from Peking University Health Science Center, involving nearly 500,000 people in 10 different regions of China, found through data comparison that compared with eating spicy food every week Those who ate less than once, and those who ate 6-7 times a week, had a 14% lower risk of all-cause death and a 22% lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease .
Coincidentally, in a study of data from Italian adults published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) in 2019, researchers found that people who ate chili more than 4 times a week had better health outcomes than those who did not eat spicy food. There was a 23% reduction in the risk of death from death and a 31% reduction in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
2. Help reduce blood pressure
Capsaicin in peppers can stimulate vascular endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide. This substance has the effect of promoting vasodilation and improving blood supply. It can effectively help lower blood pressure and slow down vascular aging and hardening.
3. Prevent obesity
Some people sweat profusely when they eat spicy food, which is actually related to capsaicin. Chili peppers can enhance human metabolism and energy consumption, speed up the burning of fat, and reduce the chance of obesity .
4. Reduce the risk of oropharyngeal tumors
A study published in the "Chinese Journal of Epidemiology" involving about 510,000 Chinese residents and an average follow-up of 10.8 years showed that compared with people who never or occasionally eat spicy food, people who eat spicy food every day suffer from lip, oral and pharyngeal diseases. 31% lower risk of external malignancies .
The researchers analyzed that eating spicy food can prevent oropharyngeal cancer, possibly with capsaicin, which can activate a variety of proteins and inhibit cell cycle regulators, thereby preventing the growth and division of cancer cells and preventing cancer progression.
3. The most complete strategy for healthy eating spicy food, how much do you know?
Although it is good to eat spicy food, it should be done in moderation. So what is the healthiest way to eat spicy food?
1. 5 types of people are not suitable for spicy food
- mouth ulcers
For patients with oral ulcers, eating spicy food will stimulate the wound surface, cause pain, and may also expand the ulcer surface, making the condition difficult to cure.
- eye disease
For patients with pink eye or keratitis, if they eat chili peppers in moderation, it may cause swelling of the eyelids or heat and pain in the eyes, and in severe cases can lead to increased intraocular pressure.
- Hemorrhoids
Eating too much spicy food can aggravate the symptoms of constipation. Especially in patients with hemorrhoids, it can cause hemorrhoid vein congestion and edema, making the condition worse.
- people with bad stomach
In patients with esophagitis, duodenal ulcer or gastric ulcer, and chronic gastritis, eating spicy food will stimulate mucosal congestion and edema, accelerate gastrointestinal motility, and easily lead to abdominal pain and diarrhea.
- Hypersecretion of gastric acid
Capsaicin will increase gastric acid secretion, stimulate gallbladder contraction, cause biliary sphincter spasm, and hinder bile excretion.
2. Eat spicy food to a degree
Generally speaking, fresh peppers should not exceed 100g each time, and dried peppers should be less than 10g each time . Excessive consumption of spicy food will greatly increase the blood flow in the stomach wall, causing congestion and dilation of blood vessels, which can cause hemorrhage of peptic ulcers.
3. Do not eat with cold drinks and hot food
Spicy food will stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, and if you drink cold drinks at this time, alternating between hot and cold, it is easy to eat a bad stomach. The same is true of overheated food. The temperature of the food is too high and it is easy to irritate the throat and gastric mucosa. If you eat spicy food at this time, it will stimulate the scalded area and aggravate the symptoms.
4. Drink more milk to relieve spicy food
When many people accidentally taste a spicy level that is not suitable for them, their mouths become numb and uncomfortable, and they will subconsciously pour water. But in fact, capsaicin is insoluble in water, so drinking water does not relieve spicy. If you want to relieve the spicy, you can drink room temperature milk . Because the casein in milk can neutralize capsaicin and relieve the spicy feeling in the mouth.
In short, as long as you eat spicy food in moderation, it will not cause harm to your stomach. Of course, people who don't like spicy food, don't force yourself. The benefits that chili can bring can also be supplemented by other foods, so you don't have to force yourself to eat spicy food.
References:
[1] "Eating spicy food hurts the stomach and causes stomach cancer? Doctor: 90% of people are wrong
[2] "Over 500,000 People Study: Often Eating Spicy, Can "Resist" Oropharyngeal Tumors. Life Times. 2022-03-23
[3] "Compared with people who eat chili for a long time and who never eat chili, whose body is better? Early understanding, good morning". Family Doctor Online. 2022-02-27
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