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Looking to improve your health but also get a nice kick out of it?
Chili has long been hailed for its therapeutic properties, but according to a new study, eating chili peppers regularly can cut the risk of death from heart disease and stroke. Researchers from Italy carried out experiments, documenting where chili is a common ingredient and comparing the risk of death of the health issues among 23,000 people.
The research was conducted over the course of eight years and shows that those participants who ate chili peppers at least four times per week had a 40 percent lower risk of dying from a heart attack than those who did not eat chilies.
Study lead author Marialaura Bonaccio, an epidemiologist at the Mediterranean Neurological Institute (Neuromed), noted that “protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed.”
The effect of chili consumption can be attributed to how the peppers are used in an overall diet. Typically, people who use chilies in their cooking use more herbs and spices and fresh foods.
It is important to note, however, that scientists did not find that eating more chili itself provided additional health benefits.
The teams’ research will extend into investigating the biochemical mechanisms that make chili healthy.
By: Maytinee Kramer
