Are you someone who doesn’t care much for spicy foods? If you are, you might just be cutting your life short.

That’s according to international team of researchers led by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, which has concluded that eating spicy foods could be the key to greater longevity. The team found that eating such foods on a regular basis can help prevent premature death by as much as 14 percent.

And while a variety of spicy foods can be good for you, one in particular caught the attention of researchers: Consumption of fresh chili peppers, when compared to other spicy foods, was the most effective at providing longevity because it helped protect against cancers, ischemic heart disease, and diabetes. The team said that a combination of ingredients in fresh chili peppers was responsible for health-boosting benefits, NaturalNews reports.

“Compared with non-fresh spicy foods such as dried chili pepper, chili sauce, or chili oil,” says Lu Qi, associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health, “fresh chili pepper is richer in bioactive ingredients, including capsaicin, vitamin C, and other nutrients such as vitamin A, K, and B6 and potassium.”

NaturalNews reported further:

To conduct the study, the experts from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences assessed nearly 490,000 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank. All individuals responded to a questionnaire in which they answered questions pertaining to physical measurements, general health, and consumption of red meats, spicy foods, vegetables, and alcohol.

For instance, one question was, “During the past month, about how often did you eat hot spicy foods?” Respondents were asked to select from the following potential answers: Never or almost never, only occasionally, 1 or 2 days a week, 3 to 5 days a week, or 6 or 7 days a week.

Those who chose from the last three options were then directed to answer questions about the kinds of spices used, and involved choices such as fresh chili pepper, dried chili pepper, and chili oil.

The researchers ultimately concluded:

In this large prospective study, we observed an inverse association between consumption of spicy foods and total mortality, after adjusting for potential confounders. Compared with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week, those who consumed spicy foods almost every day had a 14% lower risk of death. Inverse associations were also observed for deaths due to cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases. The associations were consistent in men and women.

They also noted that their “…study is the first to analyze the association between daily consumption of spicy foods and mortality in a prospective cohort.”

Sources:

NaturalNews.com

ScienceDaily.com

BJM.com