本周發表在《英國醫學雜誌》上的一項新的研究表明，將辛辣食物作為日常飲食的一部分可降低死亡風險。這是一項觀察性研究，因此因果關係之間還沒有明確的結論，但作者呼籲更多的研究有關“更新的膳食推薦和功能性食品的發展。”
先前的研究表明，調料及其生物活性成分如辣椒素的有益影響包括：抗肥胖、抗氧化、抗炎和抗癌特性。
所以由中國醫學科學院研究人員領導的一個國際團隊檢測了食用辛辣食物作為日常飲食的一部分和引起死亡總風險原因之間的關係。
他們進行了一項總共有487375名30 - 79歲之間的參與者參加的前瞻性研究。入選的參與者在2004 - 2008年之間被研究隨訪他們的發病率和死亡率。
所有參與者完成了一項關於健康的問卷調查，包括體質檢查，食用辛辣食物，紅肉、蔬菜和酒精。
有癌症史、心髒病史和中風史的參與者不能參加研究，一些如年齡、婚姻狀況、教育水平、身體活動等因素也被考慮在內。
平均7.2年的隨訪時間中，有20224人死亡。
與吃辛辣食物不到一周一次的參與者相比，那些食用辛辣食物每周1到2天的人死亡風險降低了10%(死亡危害比為0.90)，那些吃辛辣食物一周3到5天或6到7天的人死亡風險降低了14%(死亡危險比0.86)。*
換句話說，比那些食用辛辣食物不到一周一次的人，幾乎每天吃辛辣食物的參與者死亡風險降低了14%。（不管是男性或女性，並且對不飲酒的參與者相關性非常強）
經常食用辛辣食物的人死於癌症，缺血性心髒病和呼吸係統疾病的風險也較低，在這方麵女性比男性更明顯。
每周吃辛辣食物的人最常用的調料是新鮮辣椒和幹辣椒粉，那些吃新鮮辣椒的人死於癌症，缺血性心髒病和糖尿病的風險會降低。
作者解釋說新鮮的辣椒富含辣椒素，維生素C，和其他營養素，一些生物活性成分與這種結果密切相關。
人們應該吃辣的食物來改善健康嗎？來自劍橋大學的Nita Forouhi說此話還為時過早，並呼籲更多的研究來測試是否這些關聯是攝入辛辣食物的直接結果，或者這是否是其它飲食或生活方式因素的一個標誌。
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h3942
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Consumption ofspicyfoods and total and cause specificmortality: population based cohort study
Jun Lv, associate professor1, Lu Qi, associate professor23, Canqing Yu, assistant professor1, Ling Yang, senior epidemiologist4, Yu Guo, director, CKB national coordinating center5, Yiping Chen, senior research fellow4, Zheng Bian, senior coordinator, CKB national coordinating center5, Dianjianyi Sun, PhD candidate1, Jianwei Du, director6, Pengfei Ge, vice director7, Zhenzhu Tang, director8, Wei Hou, chief9, Yanjie Li, investigator10, Junshi Chen, professor11, Zhengming Chen, professor4, Liming Li
Abstract 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. Conclusion In 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.
