Consumption of spicy foods and total and cause specific mortality: population based cohort study

Abstract

ObjeCtiveTo examine the associations between the regular consumption of spicy foods and total and cause specific mortality.Design Population based prospective cohort study. PartiCiPants 199 293 men and 288 082 women aged 30 to 79 years at baseline after excluding participants with cancer, heart disease, and stroke at baseline. Main exPOsure MeasuresConsumption frequency of spicy foods, self reported once at baseline. Main OutCOMe MeasuresTotal and cause specific mortality.results During 3 500 004 person years of follow-up between 2004 and 2013 (median 7.2 years), a total of 11 820 men and 8404 women died. Absolute mortality rates according to spicy food consumption categories were 6.1, 4.4, 4.3, and 5.8 deaths per 1000 person years for participants who ate spicy foods less than once a week, 1 or 2, 3 to 5, and 6 or 7 days a week, respectively. Spicy food consumption showed highly consistent inverse associations with total mortality among both men and women after adjustment for other known or potential risk factors. In the whole cohort, compared with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week, the adjusted hazard ratios for death were 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.84 to 0.96), 0.86 (0.80 to 0.92), and 0.86 (0.82 to 0.90) for those who ate spicy food 1 or 2, 3 to 5, and 6 or 7 days a week, respectively. Compared with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week, those who consumed spicy foods 6 or 7 days a week showed a 14% relative risk reduction in total mortality. The inverse association between spicy food consumption and total mortality was stronger in those who did not consume alcohol than those who did (P=0.033 for interaction). Inverse associations were also observed for deaths due to cancer, ischemic heart diseases, and respiratory diseases. COnClusiOnIn this large prospective study, the habitual consumption of spicy foods was inversely associated with total and certain cause specific mortality, independent of other risk factors of death.

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“…2). 26,27 They activate the TRPV1 receptor and a wide variety of physiological and biological activities induced by them have recently been reported. [26][27][28] According to Eq.…”

“…26,27 They activate the TRPV1 receptor and a wide variety of physiological and biological activities induced by them have recently been reported. [26][27][28] According to Eq. 1 they should be possible to assemble via a heterogeneous metal/enzyme reductive amination/amidation or aerobic oxidation/reductive amination/amidation sequence.…”

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“…The thermogenic and fat-reducing effects of capsaicin is also confirmed in welldesigned placebo-controlled human studies [7]. Capsaicin is the most consumed spice in the world, and its health beneficial effects have been known in traditional medicine for centuries [8]. However, owing to its strong pungency, not all people can ingest it in large quantities.…”