Kathmandu, December 17

Italian scientists claimed that eating chili papers four times a week could cut people's risk of dying from a heart attack.

The scientists at Instituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed (IRCCS) in Pozzilli examined 22,811 citizens of Molise region, in Italy for eight years and results showed that adults who ate chili peppers frequently, deemed four times each week, were less likely to die prematurely. They were also 40 per cent less likely to die from a heart attack.

Capsaicin - an anti-inflammatory compound and the substances that create the burning sensation - is thought to be behind the benefit.

Experts found chilis even benefited the hearts of volunteers whose diets were not considered healthy, however the researchers did not prove chilis helped the heart, as per the news of the dailymail.co.uk.  

All of the participants lived in the Molise region of Italy, home of the Mediterranean diet - considered the healthiest in the world.

The researchers scored person's diet on a scale of zero to nine, based on how well they adhered to the traditional Mediterranean diet. The diet is plentiful in vegetables, fruits and nuts, legumes, fish and fats such as olive oil. Red meat is rarely eaten and dairy and eggs are limited.

"An interesting fact is that protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed. In other words, someone can follow the healthy Mediterranean diet, someone else can eat less healthily, but for all of them chili pepper has a protective effect," said Marialaura Bonaccio, Neuromed epidemiologist as quoted by the eurekalert.org

The Moli-sani study is the first to explore the properties of this spice in relation to the risk of death in a European and Mediterranean population.

 Chili eaters typically adhered to the Mediterranean diet, with fruit and vegetables commonly roasted and added to fish dishes or added in to pasta.

Over an average follow up of eight years, 1,236 people died. A third of people died due to cancer, while people who died due to heart diseases were in similar numbers.

People who consumed chili four times a week were 23 per cent less likely to die during the study period.

Risk of death from a heart attack or coronary heart disease was 40 and 34 per cent lower for regular chili eaters, respectively, as per the reports.

Death rates from cancer were only 10 per cent lower in the non-chili eater group, meaning the result was not significant. 

Hamro Doctor