Does eating spicy food help you live longer?
Eating spicy food regularly is associated with lower mortality, but whether it is the cause we do not yet know. When it comes to stomach cancer, a little may be beneficial while a lot may actually be harmful, so moderation is key.
Eating spicy food daily is associated with a lower risk of early death. In a large Chinese population study involving more than 487,000 people, daily consumption of spicy food was linked to 14% fewer deaths compared with people who ate spicy food less than once a week. An American study found a comparable figure among regular eaters of hot red chili peppers: a 13% lower risk of death over nearly nineteen years of follow-up. Four large population studies combined, from the US, China, Italy and Iran, confirmed this picture: 12% less total mortality and even 18% less mortality from heart disease among regular spicy-food eaters.
These are associations, not proven causal relationships. It is quite possible that people who eat a lot of spicy food also live more healthily in other ways. At the same time, there is a biologically plausible mechanism: the active compound capsaicin appears to have beneficial effects on weight, blood pressure and blood sugar regulation via a receptor in the body. In people who drink alcohol, the beneficial association was weaker than in people who do not.
Researchers also see an interesting pattern when it comes to weight. Higher chili consumption was associated with less excess weight, with a dose-dependent relationship: the more chili, the lower the risk of obesity. Those who ate more than 50 grams per day had a 27% lower risk of overweight or obesity.
There is, however, an important caveat regarding cancer risk. Eating small amounts of chili pepper appears to lower the risk of stomach cancer, but eating large amounts may actually raise it. An overarching review of multiple meta-analyses also found that spicy food and chili peppers are linked to higher rates of oesophageal, stomach and gallbladder cancer. This runs counter to the beneficial effects on mortality and cardiovascular disease, and makes the overall picture more nuanced.
This answer draws on several large population studies involving more than 500,000 people in total, plus an overarching review of multiple meta-analyses on cancer risk. The associations with mortality are remarkably consistent across countries and studies, but they remain associations: no one was randomly assigned to a spicy-food group, so cause and effect have not been proven. The cancer risk data come from a less developed area of research: the researchers behind that review rate their own evidence as thin and contradictory. The mechanism via capsaicin is plausible but has not yet been demonstrated to be causal in humans.