For many years, chili has been hailed for its therapeutic properties, and now researchers have found that eating chili peppers regularly can cut the risk of death from heart disease and stroke.

Carried out in Italy, where chili is a common ingredient, the study compared the risk of death among 23,000 people, some of whom ate chili and some of whom didn’t.

Participants’ health status and eating habits were monitored over eight years, and researchers found that the risk of dying from a heart attack was 40 percent lower among those eating chili peppers at least four times per week.

Death from stroke was more than halved, according to results published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“An interesting fact is that protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed,” said study lead author Marialaura Bonaccio, an epidemiologist at the Mediterranean Neurological Institute (Neuromed).

“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,” she said.

The research uses data from the Moli-Sani study, which has around 25,000 participants in the Molise region of southern Italy.

Licia Iacoviello, director of the department of epidemiology and prevention at Neuromed and a professor at the University of Insubria, explained that the beneficial properties of chili had been passed down through Italian food culture.

“And now, as already observed in China and in the United States, we know that the various plants of the capsicum species, although consumed in different ways throughout the world, can exert a protective power towards our health,” said Iacoviello.

External experts praised the study while pointing out some limitations.

Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston Medical School in the U.K., said the paper is “interesting” but “does not show a causal link” between chili consumption and health benefits.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【治疗的】zhìliáo de therapeutic having or exhibiting healing powers

【流行病学家】liúxíngbìng xuéjiā epidemiologist an investigator who studies the occurrence of disease or other health-related conditions, states, or events in specified populations

多年来辣椒一直因其食疗特性而受到赞誉，如今研究人员发现，定期吃辣椒可以降低死于心脏病和中风的风险。

这项研究在意大利开展，在那里辣椒是一种很常用的调味料。该研究比较了2.3万人的死亡风险，其中一部分人吃辣椒，而另一部分人不吃辣椒。

该研究在八年时间内对参与者的健康状况和饮食习惯进行了监控，结果研究人员发现，每周至少吃四次辣椒的人死于心脏病的风险比其他人低40%。

根据这份发表在《美国心脏病学会杂志》的研究报告，吃辣的人死于中风的风险也减少了一半以上。

研究的首席作者、地中海神经病学研究所的流行病学家玛利亚劳拉▪伯纳西欧说：“一个有趣的事实是，这种防护死亡风险的作用和人们的饮食类型无关。”

她说：“换言之，有些人遵循健康的地中海饮食方式，还有一些人饮食习惯没有那么健康，但是辣椒对所有这些人都起到了保护作用。”

这项研究采用了来自意大利健康项目“莫利-萨尼研究”的数据，意大利南部莫利塞大区的约2.5万人参与了这项研究。

地中海神经病学研究所流行病学与预防部主任、伊苏布利亚大学教授莉西亚▪亚科维耶洛解释道，辣椒的功效通过意大利饮食文化传承了下来。

亚科维耶洛说：“现在，正如在中国和美国观察到的那样，我们知道世界各地的多种辣椒都可以对健康产生保护作用，无论是以什么方式摄入。”

外界专家在称赞这项研究的同时指出了一些局限性。

英国阿斯顿医学院的注册营养师和高级特任讲师杜安▪梅勒说，这篇论文“很有趣”，但没有指明吃辣椒和健康之间的“因果关系”。

(chinadaily.com.cn)