There’s a wonderfully healthy spice that can help you fight heart disease, dodge cancer, live longer and lose weight. And you can toss some on your dinner tonight — maybe even on your eggs in the morning.
Spice up your food with chili peppers, say researchers, and not only can you light up your taste buds, you can put the heat on numerous and nasty chronic diseases and disorders.
A four-year study in China involving almost 500,000 people shows that folks who eat spicy food, especially food that contains chili peppers, shrink their risk of lung problems as well as cardiovascular complications and cancer while upping their chances of living longer.
The researchers believe that the ingredient in chili peppers responsible for these remarkable benefits is capsaicin. A wide range of research has established that capsaicin is a potent antioxidant nutrient that helps moderate the body’s immune responses and tamp down inflammation.
As for keeping your blood pressure down, research at the Third Military Medical University in Chongqing, China, shows that capsaicin beneficially influences the behavior of the lining of blood vessels, called the endothelium, and makes arteries less likely to stiffen and lead to hypertension.
The vessels relax when capsaicin activates a process in the body called the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channel. This causes the body to bump up its production of nitric oxide, a compound that lowers inflammation and makes blood vessels loosen up.
Nitric oxide, which is also naturally produced when certain vegetables are consumed, is a beneficial nutrient for helping men with erectile dysfunction problems.
The Chinese researchers aren’t sure how many chili peppers constitute an optimal amount to eat every day to help your blood pressure. But no matter how much of the heat you can handle, a little or a lot, these peppers could give your health a much-needed boost. I like to keep a grinder of chili pepper flakes on hand to add a dash to just about any dish I cook.
