When someone tells you to eat spicy food, you should probably listen to the tip - a new study links spicy food to prolonged life.
Don't like curry? How about jalapenos? Just a little bit black pepper, maybe?
A new study published in the British Medical Journal, found that 500,000 Chinese people who ate spicy food at least three times a week have displayed a decreased risk from premature death.
The participants in the study mostly ate fresh and dried chili peppers at least three times weekly.
Associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, Lu Qi and her team, inspected questionnaire data of participants in the China Kadoorie Biobank from 2004 to 2008, Time Magazine reports.
The questionnaire obtained answers from about half a million Chinese people's alcohol intake, health condition as well as their weekly consumption of spicy delicacies.
The study found that people who consumed spicy food at least three times weekly showed a 14% decreased premature death risk, as compared to the group who did not regularly eat spicy food.
Food rich in chili and other spices are said to help reduce risks of heart disease, obesity, cancer and diabetes.
However, Lu Qi said that the study does not necessarily prove that chili or any kind of spicy food alone indeed prolongs one's life.
Dr. Nita Fourouhi of the University of Cambridge agreed that the study itself is not telling enough whether or not consuming spicy food or other factors are causing people to have a lower risk from premature death.
"Research is needed to establish whether spicy food consumption has the potential to improve health and reduce mortality directly or if it is merely a marker of other dietary and lifestyle factors," said Fourouhi in a NzHerald report.
While people cannot yet call eating spicy food a guaranteed tip for longer life, a balanced diet (not a diet made purely of spices!) is still your best bet in lowering risks of premature death.
