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Chili pepper consumption associated with 25% reduction in death from any cause
- rchaves 6y agoI guess people that each Chili pepper are also more careful when crossing the street
- emerged 6y agoOddly enough, this includes death by Chili pepper.
- 0-_-0 6y agoDoes this include consuming music from the Red Hot Chili Peppers?
- maxiepoo 6y agoFinally some good news...
- kumarvvr 6y agoAs an Indian, especially from southern India, this is great news for me. Mainly because this has been the wisdom of my grandparents repeated again and again. Not that Chili reduces death rate, but that chili is very very good for health. In southern India cuisine, green chilis, red chilis, dried red chilis and dried red chili powder is a staple of daily food. We have pickles that are exclusively made from red chilis, one of the most famous ones. https://cookingfromheart.com/pandu-mirapakaya-pachadi-andhra-red-chilli-pickle/ https://cookingfromheart.com/pandu-mirapakaya-pachadi-andhra...
- wtmt 6y agoAlthough it’s now quite common in the cuisine, did you know that chili peppers are not native to India and were brought into the country by Portuguese traders just over 500 years ago? [1] Black pepper, on the other hand, is native to the country and has been used in cooking for at least 4000 years now. [2] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper
- seanmcdirmid 6y agoChili peppers originate from South America of course, and only made their way to the rest of the world via the Colombian Exchange. Food in the old world changed drastically and would be unrecognizable to us today (eg Hunan food without chili peppers).
- JauntTrooper 6y agoOr Italian food without tomato sauce, Ireland and Poland without potatoes, or Switzerland without chocolate. It really was one of the most consequential moments in human history.
- andrepd 6y agoYep. It was bonkers when I learned that potatoes, a staple food in Europe and across the entire world, basically didn't exist outside Peru until the mid 1500s.
- cascom 6y agoDon’t forget corn, vanilla, squash, green beans, avocados, blue berries, strawberries and many more.... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_crops https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_crops
- umanwizard 6y agoThey originate from Mexico, not South America.
- seanmcdirmid 6y agoOops, thanks for the correction.
- bigbubba 6y agoAs far as I'm aware, the cultivation of capsicum peppers is generally believed to have began in Mexico, however these peppers grew in the wild in Central and South America as well, and were cultivated there as well. There are five domesticated species of capsicum pepper. Of those, C. baccatum is from the South American Andes, as is C. pubescens. The origins of C. chinese are a bit unclear, but this species is known to be very diverse in the Amazon. C. frutescens I'm not sure about, but C. Annuums came from southern North America or northern South America. There are also another 20 or so wild species, which are found throughout this region. Basically, these sort of peppers were native throughout southern North America, Central America, and much of South America. Furthermore consumption of these peppers likely predated their cultivation by thousands of years.
- ochoseis 6y ago> The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown. So they haven’t nailed down causation. Wonder if people who eat chili pepper generally consume less food because of the spiciness.
- darkwizard42 6y agoAnother interesting comment was that those who eat chili pepper have a wider spice tolerance and maybe end up eating a greater diversity of healthy foods (rather than traditional western diet staples). Jury is still out on that of course!
- sbierwagen 6y agoA heuristic: if somebody had demonstrated causation for a 25% reduction in all cause mortality, you wouldn’t be learning about it on HN first, because it would be the headline of every newspaper on the planet. 25% mortality reduction would be the biggest news in human health since germ theory.
- twangist 6y ago> Wonder if people who eat chili pepper generally consume less food because of the spiciness. No, we don't (consume less food).
- ralmidani 6y agoI’ve heard before that this might be explained as: people who eat chilies tend to eat a greater variety of food (more vegetables) than people who don’t (meat and potatoes - they have their place, but should not be your go-to meal). Good Indian food, for example, is very easy to enjoy vegetarian, as the explosion of flavors makes up for the lack of meat. Disclosure: I’m a part-time vegetarian.
- vertis 6y agoI like the term part-time vegetarian. As a full-time vegetarian and part-time vegan, it has always been difficult to correct the confusion caused by people that say they're vegetarian and then eat fish or something similar. 'Part-time' encapsulates the intent nicely.
- tashoecraft 6y agoPart time is great. I'm part time vegan (probably 90% of my meals), but I still rarely have meat, dairy, everything. I dislike the idea that if you aren't always vegan/vegetarian you've "failed". Like it's some religion that if you ever strayed you have some mark against you. It's so much easier to go 90% than 100, and I bet many more people would be willing to go 90% than 100%. We'll make major strids to improving the environment, improving our populations health, and improving the well being of animals if a majority of people have a goal of 90% rather than full removal.
- godelski 6y agoEven just getting people to go mostly chicken over beef has a big impact. This also creates a way to ease into a more plant based diet. Personally I've found the 90% aspect easier. I don't have to worry if my vegetarian meals have something like chicken stock in them. It is about eating healthier and a lower carbon diet than being 100% perfect. Just needs to be good enough.
- galangalalgol 6y agoWhat about pescatarian (sp?)? I like the idea of ditching dependence on land based animals. Is sane tilapia farming sustainable? I have a fairly strong intolerance for beans and pulses and getting enough protein to deadlift from other sources is hard. The best my blood work has ever been was me eating about 1.3lbs of grassfed beef a day plus greens and 4 sweet potatoes. Thats great, but not sustainable for our whole population.
- aioprisan 6y agoYou probably consume less food in general or less fattening when it's spiced with peppers (i.e. less likely to eat spicy butter cream that plain butter in a dish and more likely to eat spicy soups that butter laden croissants). They haven't actually isolated anything about peppers, so likely something in the underlying population who self-selects this way.
- randcraw 6y agoOr maybe capsaicin helps to sate hunger. Or it makes you antsy and compels you into action. Or it makes you irritable in general and more likely to get into vigorous arguments and fights — all of which ingest less or burn more calories.
- wtmt 6y ago> “The exact reasons and mechanisms that might explain our findings, though, are currently unknown. Therefore, it is impossible to conclusively say that eating more chili pepper can prolong life and reduce deaths, especially from cardiovascular factors or cancer. More research, especially evidence from randomized controlled studies, is needed to confirm these preliminary findings.” Could the reason be capsaicin [1], which has some medical uses (though the Wikipedia article says there’s no clear evidence from an older citation)? [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin
- keeptrying 6y agoJust so people understand this doesn’t mean that indian food is healthy. This really should be paired with the fact that Soouth Asians (indians) are 4x more likely to have a heart attack than any other population. I am an indian and I did 2 nutrition startups. Most South Indian food is unhealthy - heavy carbs laced with oils. Delicious but unhealthy. A small part of North Indian food is healthy - roti, daals, veggies etc.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- darkwizard42 6y agoKind of depends on how you eat. I don't think daily food for North or South Indian is particularly unhealthy. North Indian - daal, roti, 1-2 vegetable sides, yogurt South Indian - sambar, idli (rice, urud daal), other urud daal based breads
- renewiltord 6y agoEither it's portion sizes, diet, or genetics. Or something else. But so many population risk factors are higher for South Asians at comparable stages of their life (same age, BMI - adjusted down, etc) that it would be a mistake to assume based on first principles. Empirically we know something is wrong somewhere.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoIt’s the diet, as always. Too many carbs, saturated fats, and sugars and overall too much food.
- vinni2 6y agoWhat are the “other urud daal based breads”?
- darkwizard42 6y agoRoti, paratha, bhatia come to mind. It is sometimes easy to think in South India urud daal is only used for idli / dosa but the south definitely consumes its fair share of other bread varieties
- derefr 6y agoA lot of people point out “correlation is not causation” for studies like this; but to really internalize that point, I like to try to come up with reverse-causation hypotheses for the same data. For example: what if people with any kind of chronic inflammation in their bodies (i.e. high disease load), are less able to tolerate spicy food? I’m not saying this is a true or even likely hypothesis; just that it’s no less worthy of being considered as a hypothesis than “capsaicin promotes longevity” is; and so thinking about it can get you out of the frame of mind where reading a headline like the above one, makes you automatically internalize the headline as if “capsaicin promotes longevity” was what it said.
- andi999 6y agoI think here one should look more for a cofactor.
- GeneralAntilles 6y agoAnecdotally, nightshade[1] sensitivity seems to be common among people with autoimmune disease and nightshades are one of the anti-recommended foods on the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol, so I think this hypothesis carries some weight. My personal experience is with Celiac disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and nightshades absolutely destroy me. [1]Which includes chili peppers, bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, and potatoes.
- beaner 6y agoSometimes when I eat tomatoes, the front part of the roof of my mouth burns a little. I've never heard of this happening to anyone else before.
- BTCOG 6y agoRed tomatoes and certain strains moreso, are very highly acidic. This happens to any and all humans who eat enough tomato. I breed and grow more than 35 heirloom strains of tomatoes, and some days consume many pounds of tomatoes. Through mid season I often get quite a few chancre sores and what you're describing, but I just don't care to stop eating them. Also to the person above who said that Nightshades bother Celiacs; My grandmother is the only Celiac that I know of and whom has nearly died and been longterm hospitalized back before they could figure out what it was, has never had any issues whatsoever from the Nightshades. They end up being favorite foods of hers. She only has flare up issues with wheat gluten.
- andi999 6y agoI dont believe this result (would be interesting to read the full paper). Probably in countries with high chilly intake other causes of death are just higher (looking at you traffic accidents)
- Kaibeezy 6y agoSee also this recent study in Italy: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24900900 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24900900
- mrfusion 6y agoAnd to think they evolved to not be eaten by mammals!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Out_of_Characte 6y agoAn important notion is that this is an in vitro study, people who appear to 'like' chili peppers are associated with "a 26% relative reduction in cardiovascular mortality; a 23% relative reduction in cancer mortality; and a 25% relative reduction in all-cause mortality." which is absolutely massive. so either chili peppers are the new superfood which trumps all others or the more likely boring explanation is that chili pepper eaters had the best health outcome of all N foods studied. Suffice to say that chili pepper fans are different to the populace in more ways than one. these kinds of broad studies seem to be a waste of time in my honest opinion. Studies seem to be attempting to crown one particular ingredient or lifestyle and apply that over the whole population thereby destroying the effects of certain diets on the individual. I'm positive that more imformation could be gained by trialling small dietary changes with a control group and measuring the mentioned health markers. It goes without saying that its easy for me to criticise but I still appreciate all the studies
- leephillips 6y agoThey may or may not be a waste of time, but they are not science. Without the hypothesis of a mechanism, and experiments specifically designed to disprove that hypothesis, it’s not science. Post-hoc observations of correlations are more closely aligned with astrology or financial journalism than anything we should consider science.
- baron816 6y agoHow did they get funding for this study? Did Big Chili Pepper fund it?
- randcraw 6y agoOr the antacid consortium.
- ConcernedCoder 6y agoFunny thing that, I used to suffer from heartburn quite a bit, and instead of pepcid ac, or the like, I started eating sriracha on everything ( as I noticed I seemed to never have heartburn after using it in a meal ), no more heartburn... weird right?
- CapriciousCptl 6y agoSo, this was based on a press release for a presentation made yesterday: https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/?&_ga=2.241603266.1992222014.1602856798-1601912555.1597336667#!/9144/presentation/39489 https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/?&_ga=2.241603266.199222... . They did a meta analysis (summarizing many, many studies) focusing on chili peppers and mortality, and reported the results. What’s interesting in the graphic in the link provided is that the correlation is present in basically every study shown. It’s very strong evidence for a correlation. On the other hand it’s very hard to explain causality without bringing out general terms like “antioxidants” or, possibly much more likely, confounding variables. It would be helpful to look at confounding variables, but those aren’t available yetis the study is not public. Simply put, it’s an interesting presentation but you can’t draw much useful inference without actually seeing the content of the presentation. That and their study has not meant the rigors of a peer-reviewed article yet.
- realjohng 6y agoCorrelation not causation
- starpilot 6y agoKoreans rejoice.
- radu_floricica 6y agoTo the people saying that correlation does not imply causation: we're Bayesian machines, not publishing journals. Feel free to weight this by whatever odds you give to causation being the other way, and act on it. For example if you think it's 2:1 as likely to be something else, like a confounding variable, it still a 10% decrease in all-time mortality to start eating chili. I'm very much averse to spiciness, but guess who's going to be considering it from now on?
- bookofjoe 6y agoI like it. From now on I'm going to refer to myself as a Bayesian machine.
- abecedarius 6y agoThat'd depend on your prior, before hearing of this, for expecting a mechanism for chilis to reduce mortality by 25%. My prior if you'd asked me would've been "c'mon, you really think so?" Not impossible but quite unlikely.
- radu_floricica 6y agoOf course. And a real-life bayesian agent should also have a shortcut for "odds too low to bother updating". I just wanted to point out that journal standards shouldn't be applied for real life decisions. What priors you have is totally up to you.
- abecedarius 6y agoI'm just saying your 2:1 for-example seems really optimistic. That'd be easy to miss.
- vondur 6y agoIf the same benefits are also associated with hot sauces, then I'm gonna live forever. I eat hot sauce with just about anything. (I love Cholula and Tapatio...)
- RaptorJ 6y agoOh yeah, if I knew that Frank's Red Hot was gonna give me a 1 in 4 chance of immortality, I would have been eating so much more rice and beans.
- jelliclesfarm 6y agoChili peppers releases endorphins and dopamine. Gives the sensation of feeling ‘high’. [...] One such message produced by capsaicinoids is substance P, which transmits pain signals. The brain responds by releasing another type of neurotransmitter known as endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s natural way of relieving pain by blocking the nerve’s ability to transmit pain signals. Additionally, the neurotransmitter dopamine, responsible for a sense of reward and pleasure, is also released. In essence, for some people eating large amounts of spicy food triggers a sense of euphoria similar to a “runner’s high”.[..] https://helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/07/your-brain-capsaicin https://helix.northwestern.edu/blog/2014/07/your-brain-capsa...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- squarefoot 6y ago"Any cause" seems a bit stretched and doesn't reflect the actual headline.
- jVinc 6y agoAlso just sounds silly. I haven't read through the papers, but I highly doubt anyone studied how chili consumption affected the change of dying in car accidents.
- bagacrap 6y ago"Death from any cause" makes perfect sense to me, I interpret it to mean "all kinds of death lumped together". What's the alternative you propose? "From all causes" sounds even more as if it describes every cause individually.
- d23 6y agoI wish it were causal. I eat a ton of Sriracha.
- ricardbejarano 6y agoMan I wish it were, as of late I've become addicted to putting a couple drops of Blair's Mega Death on all my main dishes. I've found it to be the best spicy I've ever eaten: it does not leave the mouth (no throat or lip burn, does not go up your nose), the crescendo is soft (if you dilute it), and takes no more than 20min to go away after your last bite.
- d23 6y agoIt sounds quite spicy though, no? The thing I like about sriracha is I can use a lot of it. That sauce sounds like I'd only be able to use a couple of drops before the heat was too much to handle.
- ricardbejarano 6y agoIt is, but I like that I can make something burn with half a dozen drops, which means I keep the flavor of the food, without altering it too much. But it is, I recall it once was the hottest sauce in Hot Ones[0]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da8-QfGemgo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da8-QfGemgo
- refurb 6y agoI buy 1/2 on bags of ground habanero pepper for like $5 a bag and put it on all my lunches and dinner. If you can see the powder on your food, it will be blazing hot. I end up drinking about a liter of ice water and have to pause my eating several times. I often end up shivering after due to the sweating and the ice water. Yum!
- ricardbejarano 6y agoInteresting...
- aaron695 6y agoWays to generically flavour and improve food. Sugar, fat, salt, msg, chilli. While we refuse to use MSG, and are not sure about salt, chilli will make you healthier. Not as much as this article claims. But it is good for you.
- BTCOG 6y agoI do not believe any of this for a second. I don't believe these studies can show or prove that correlation is the causation. I don't believe that capsaicin is lowering cancer and heart disease deaths by a magical and clean, 25%. It sounds nice, though.
- Brakenshire 6y ago25% all cause reduction in mortality, I reckon chilli peppers could be better for you than modern medicine.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- daxfohl 6y agoHow to read this stat? I assume it's not "25% of people who eat chili peppers live forever", but I can't come up with another way to read it. "People who eat chilis live 25% longer"? "25% of people who eat chilis die without any cause"?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jobigoud 6y agoI think it's: People eating chili have 25% less chance of dying at any moment than other people, independently of the cause of death.
- daxfohl 6y agoInitially I assumed this would increase average lifespan by 25% or so. But it doesn't. Like if you assume zero percent chance of dying before age 80 and 10% every year after, then your average lifespan is around 85 years. If you eat chilis then it doesn't affect your first 80 years at all and only gives you an extra year or two after 80, so maybe 87 on average. Obviously this is a simplification but shows that eating chilis won't automatically make you live to 125. (Assuming the headline holds, which...)
- daxfohl 6y agoNow I can stop drinking bleach.
- AlexMoffat 6y agoChili pepper consumption in higher in countries with universal health care?
- easytiger 6y agoHmm. Well from personal experience people who develop cardiovascular issues stop eating foods which aggravate them.
- contingencies 6y agoSurprised to see that nobody has mentioned the chili/capsicum family are very high in vitamin C. IIRC scurvy is making a comeback in the developed world as poor people live in food deserts on convenience sludge instead of real food.
- daxfohl 6y agoIncluding COVID?
- mrbonner 6y agoHaha such bullshit. My dad ate tons of chili pepper everyday. He died from a stroke in March this year at 70.
- DonCopal 6y agoHaving a 25% smaller chance of dying from stroke doesn't mean you can't still die from it.
- lota-putty 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_food_origins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_food_origins Indigenous people who domesticated wild flora & fauna as food sources. Sadly, most Indians eat wrong Cinnamon bark. - South Indian Vegan(10 yrs & going) Fortified wheat-flour & dry Soybeans cover my protein & vit-B12 req.