Many of us enjoy turning up the heat with a little extra chili in our food, but it turns out that those who like it hot might be unknowingly adding a few more years to their life, not just their meals. Although this might sound like a bizarre speculation, let us find out how much spice could actually aid in increasing lifespan.
More Spice, Fewer Diseases?
Over the past few years, several large-scale studies have suggested that people who regularly eat spicy foods, particularly chili peppers, tend to have lower risks of serious diseases, including heart problems and certain cancers. While none of this proves that chili peppers alone can keep you alive longer, the pattern is strong enough that nutrition and heart experts are taking notice.
Spicy Food and a Longer Life
A study from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont analyzed data from 16,179 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III, collected between 1988 and 1994. Published in PLOS ONE, this study found that people who ate hot red chili peppers had a 13 percent lower adjusted risk of death overall compared with those who did not eat them. Over a follow-up period of about 273,877 person-years, the overall death rate among chili-eaters was 21.6 percent, versus 33.6 percent among non-eaters, even after adjusting for age, health status, and lifestyle factors.
Big Numbers from Global Spicy-Food Studies
Another analysis presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions combined data from four major studies involving more than 570,000 adults in the United States, Italy, China, and Iran. According to the authors, people who regularly ate chili peppers had a 26 percent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, a 23 percent lower risk of death from cancer, and a 25 percent lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who rarely or never ate them. Bo Xu, a cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic and senior author of that analysis, said, “We were surprised to find that in these previously published studies, regular consumption of chili pepper was associated with an overall risk-reduction of all-cause, CVD, and cancer mortality.” However, Xu stressed that this does not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship, and that more research is needed.
Another Chinese Study Adds Valuable Insights
In 2024, a large Chinese study published in the Chinese Medical Journal looked at 486,000 adults over about 12 years. It found that people who ate spicy food at least once a week had a slightly lower risk of cardiovascular disease, although the link with stroke was less clear. Overall, the body of research suggests that spicy foods, especially those containing chili peppers, likely offer some health benefits, particularly for heart health, but the exact size of the effect is still being teased out. Because the evidence mostly comes from observational studies, scientists cannot rule out that people who eat more chilies may also tend to follow healthier lifestyles in general.
