The spice of life?

[Photo provided to China Daily]

A new study adds to the evidence that red-hot chili peppers can boost health and longevity, Mike Peters reports.

Like spicy food? New research suggests that besides giving a flash of heat to your favorite dishes, chili peppers could also help you live longer.

For centuries, peppers and spices have been prized for their power to treat some diseases, but only one other study - conducted in China and published in 2015 - has previously examined chili-pepper consumption and its association with mortality. The new US research, published recently in the journal PLoS One, corroborates the earlier study's findings.

Scientists at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont found that consumption of hot red chili peppers is associated with a 13 percent reduction in total mortality - primarily in deaths due to heart disease or stroke.

Using data from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, the researchers looked at 16,179 participants who were at least 18 years old, and followed them for up to 23 years.

The data show that those who ate more of the spicy ingredient tended to be "younger, male, white, Mexican-American, married, and to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and consume more vegetables and meats ... had lower HDL-cholesterol" in comparison to participants who did not consume red chilies.

The scientists also found that the participants who consumed hot red peppers benefited from a 13 percent reduction in risk of death.