Sriracha Lovers Unite! Life-Extending Benefits Found in Spicy Food

So tell all your friends who don’t like spicy food: “No pain, no gain, people!” (Photo: Silvia Li Volsi / EyeEm / Getty Images)

Adding those hot chili peppers to your salads and burgers this summer might not be such a bad idea. According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, eating spicy foods may lower your risk of death from conditions like cancer, ischemic heart disease and respiratory disease.

Results from experimental research have hinted at the benefits of spices and their active components on health, but few studies have examined the effect in a large-scale population. So for this research, an international team at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences took data from 487,375 participants at the China Kadoorie Biobank, between the ages of 30 and 79, examining the link between daily consumption of spicy foods and the risk of death from various causes.

The men and women were enrolled in the study from 2004 to 2008, and scientists followed up afterward to determine sicknesses and deaths. Each completed a questionnaire about their overall health, measurements, and diet — like how often they consumed spicy foods, red meat, vegetables and alcohol.

Participants were also asked to give a medical history; those with previous cancer, heart disease or stroke were excluded. In addition, researchers controlled for potential compounding factors like age, marital status, education level and physical activity.

Related: The Strange Science of Why Men Love Spicy Food

In the group, the median follow-up time was a little over seven years, and there were 20,224 deaths during the follow-up period. Among those who consumed spicy foods regularly, there seemed to be a protective effect. Eating a spicy dish once or twice a week was linked to a 10 percent lower chance of death, when compared to those who ate hot dishes less than once per week. Those who ate spicy foods three or more days a week saw a 14 percent reduced risk of death. This was a stronger effect than the one observed in those abstaining from alcohol.

These are the “striking” findings researchers were actually expecting to see, in line with previous research, although the potential powers of spicy food have rarely been discussed before, says Lu Qi, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

What might be going on here? “Spicy food or its active components have been related to improved inflammation, reduced body fat, or improved lipid profiles,” Qi tells Yahoo Health. Take fresh chili, for instance, which is high in capsaicin and vitamin C. “However, we know little about why these may occur,” he says. “More studies are definitely needed to clarify the mechanisms.”

Related: 4 Spicy Snacks To Boost Your Metabolism

Researchers will need to examine whether spicy food has a direct impact on human health, or whether consuming foods with high-heat content tends to come in conjunction with other smart lifestyle factors.

If studies bear out that direct effect, Qi says it may be an easy way to boost the health of your meals. “With more evidence accumulated, we may propose new dietary recommendation by considering increase of spicy food intake to lower risk of disease and promote human health,”he says.

But in the meantime, it can’t hurt to crank up the heat on your next meal — especially now in the summer. Eating spicy food (or downing a hot drink) activates the tongue’s TRPV1 receptors, which tell the brain, “Whoa, it’s hot in here!” In response to those signals, the brain then flips on our body’s natural cooling mechanism: sweating.

This is likely why so many people in hot countries rely on spicy foods as staples in their diets.

Read This Next: School Bans Spicy Doritos ‘Roulette’ After Student Can’t Breathe