It's speculated to be due to capsaicin which is essentially what determines the scovilles rating. No real evidence yet though. Everything in moderation also, t

It's speculated to be due to capsaicin which is essentially what determines the scovilles rating. No real evidence yet though. Everything in moderation also, too much vitamin c actually makes it an oxidant in the body. Beta-carotene in vegetables widely acknowledged to lower incidence of lung cancer. Beta-carotene pills given to smokers raised lung cancer rates so much they had to end the study early on ethical grounds.[1] Nutrition is far from solved. It's naive to isolate a substance from a food and claim it alone causes an effect. I'm a huge chilli fan, gone through a fair share of super hots and anecdotally don't think they can be good for your digestive system in ultra-large doses, have ruined meals and myself on a few occasions. What I get from the study is perhaps choose a vindaloo over a korma, rather than eat as many reapers as possible in 60 seconds. [1] http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20041130/death-stalks-smokers-in-beta-carotene-study http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20041130/death-s...