
Study finds association between eating hot peppers and decreased mortality - upen
http://sciencebulletin.org/archives/9287.html
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klodolph
I'll posit an additional theory—that people with gastrointestinal problems
don't eat spicy food because it causes discomfort.

But the other part that the article mentions—eating more vegetables and
meats—well, most of the spicy foods I can think of are basically vegetables +
meat in a spicy sauce.

~~~
mac01021
> eating more vegetables and meats

What is everyone living on? Just bread?

~~~
ryanplant-au
Rice, breads, and noodles do make up a very large percentage of many people's
diets, especially when you're in poverty.

~~~
jacobolus
Indeed, these kinds of “staples” have made up the bulk of calories in pretty
much all peasant diets around the world for the past 5000+ years.

Not just rice and wheat, but also including oats, barley, rye, maize, quinoa,
potatoes, yams, manioc (a.k.a. cassava, yuca), taro, plantains, soybeans,
peas, lentils, chickpeas, beans, etc.

Reliance on staples is the main reason that agricultural societies tend to
have substantially shorter stature, shorter life expectancy, and more health
problems than hunter–gatherer societies.

In recent times, the biggest problem is sugar though. Modern people consume
ridiculous quantities of refined sugar in processed foods, fast restaurant
food, soda and fruit juice, etc. Consuming large quantities of alcohol also
isn’t helping anything.

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mattdeboard
I look forward to the inevitable study that finds an association between spicy
foods and heart disease, or colon cancer, or spontaneous brain tumors, or
Lewandowsky-Lutz dysplasia, and recommends reducing intake of aforementioned
spicy foods for all humans aged 10-75.

~~~
ju-st
> The report details six studies on rats and mice in which the animals
> developed signs of cancer in the stomach or liver after their diet was
> changed to include more capsaicin

[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34411492](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34411492)
(2015)

~~~
Balgair
Ok, so I do work alongside people that do these food studies (coffee, wine,
chocolate, etc). I myself do not do these studies, but I do know a few people
that do. None of the scientists are trying to deceive the public. Nor are they
trying very hard to get out a publication. Peer review for these, and for most
paper, really works.

The issue here is the press. These little studies show a _very_ narrow and
tightly controlled (with rare exception) effect, and if you read these papers,
the effect is usually very small or only for certain age ranges of mice.
However, when the press release comes out, these caveats are totally ignored
or buried at the end of the press article that the univ releases. This is
usually accompanied by very pretty pictures of the PI that never touched the
bench in a lab coat that has the name of a lab tech stitched onto it. That
then gets spun around to a local news outlet that may or may not tell you
about the limits of the study. If you are 'lucky' then you have a major news
outlet pick it up and just copy/paste most of it and leave even more out. Then
the blogs get a hand on it and somehow your buddies that made the original
study are being accused of being lizard people working for the moon god Tsath-
Satha. All along the way it gets distorted and the general public is
rightfully confused.

Honestly, the blame lies with the researchers. We are where the 'buck stops'.
That we allow the press to say these things and distort the work so much harms
us and makes us less trustworthy the public that we are working to help. How
to stop this is something that we could use help with.

~~~
battlebot
I pretty much just ignore all of these reports and articles because of
everything you just said. And I hate to change the subject, but studies done
in every other subject are the exact same way. I'm in no way impugning the
research and hard work of people out there who are doing an honest and
forthright job and are trying to serve humanity. It's just that I've been to a
lot of these same rodeos and well, I've seen some astounding breaches of
ethics. Maybe someone down the line isn't trying to deceive the public, but
the public is in fact being deceived, is it not? And now we have the bigger
problem of we can't trust major news outlets and sources of information. So
here we are.

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mindcrime
Man, I should live forever then. I love hot peppers. Well, OK, I usually use
bottled pepper sauces of various sorts, not whole, fresh peppers themselves.
So maybe that doesn't work. But if it's just the capsaicin, then I get plenty
of it... jalapeno pepper, cayenne pepper, chipotle pepper, scotch bonnet
pepper, habanero pepper, ghost pepper (naga jolokia), trinidad scorpion
pepper, carolina reaper peppers... I love 'em all.

Thanks HN, now you have me wanting to cook a big pot of chili that I can
pepper up to ludicrous levels of hotness.

~~~
nickpsecurity
I want to eat them but they burn me up. Not sure if gradual progression
starting at Jalapeno will knock that out over time or if you gotta be born
with it. My brother & his household are about hot peppers. I give him free
Ghost pepper sauce just to watch the results of them trying to add it to stuff
or drink it straight. He'd have to be totally dehydrated after a day in the
desert to look the same as what it does haha.

So, what do all yall think about building up a tolerance so I can enjoy more
spicy stuff maybe with some health benefits? Does that even work?

~~~
mindcrime
I mean... to me, the possible health benefits are pretty tenuous. I probably
wouldn't make it a point to pursue eating progressively hotter food on the off
chance there might be some minuscule health benefit. To me, the reason for
eating hot foods is because they're tasty and good, and it's an enjoyable
experience.

FWIW, though, I didn't always like hot stuff. In fact, up through probably my
mid 20's, I really didn't eat much spicy food at all. It wasn't until I moved
to a more urban area and did two things that my taste for hot stuff started to
develop. One, I started hanging out at sports bars to watch football, and got
into eating buffalo wings. Two, I discovered Thai food and started eating that
a lot. And over time I just found myself wanting the stuff hotter and hotter.
I never made a conscious decision to say "Hey, I hope to one day be one of
those guys who eats crazy hot food loaded with Ghost Pepper sauce." It just
kinda happened.

So I guess I'd say... eat what you like. Branch out now and then just to
explore and expand your boundaries, but I wouldn't suggest making eating a
painful experience for no particular reason. _shrug_

~~~
nickpsecurity
Thanks for the perspective. Makes sense.

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no_protocol
I am not a trained statistician, so can someone help me understand why this is
even publishable?

I read the abstract and found they quote their key statistic at P = 0.01. The
"NHANES III" study that their data comes from has over 1000 variables. Can't
you just cherry-pick a handful of "significant" variables at the P = 0.01
level, when there are 1000 variables to choose from?

~~~
nonbel
The entire idea of using a default null hypothesis and calculating a p-value
in order to learn something is fatally flawed to begin with. If p-values are
to be of any use, the hypothesis you are trying to reject needs to be
predicted by your theory/model, so set that as the null hypothesis. You
know... how science works. To start you off:

[http://library.mpib-
berlin.mpg.de/ft/gg/GG_Mindless_2004.pdf](http://library.mpib-
berlin.mpg.de/ft/gg/GG_Mindless_2004.pdf)

[http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/staff/christianb/downloads/me...](http://www.fisme.science.uu.nl/staff/christianb/downloads/meehl1967.pdf)

[http://andrewgelman.com/2016/09/30/why-the-garden-of-
forking...](http://andrewgelman.com/2016/09/30/why-the-garden-of-forking-
paths-criticism-of-p-values-is-not-like-a-famous-borscht-belt-comedy-bit/)

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cardmagic
Why do people look for correlations any more? Aren't scientists painfully
aware of confirmation bias[1] and spurious correlation[2] yet?

[1]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias)

[2] [http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-
correlations](http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations)

~~~
sfrailsdev
Correlation finding is still an incredibly important first step towards
figuring out what would be a good double blind randomized trial. Science media
could definitely report correlations better.

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searealist
Cultures that eat red peppers tend to have shorter people. Shorter people tend
to live longer.

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pvg
Pickles, on the other hand, will kill you.
[http://www.jir.com/pickles.html](http://www.jir.com/pickles.html)

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metaphorm
some kind of correlation effect, perhaps?

my speculation: eating more chili peppers is associated (positively) with a
more varied and nutritious diet

~~~
rectangletangle
This is what I suspect. There's pretty clear evidence that most American's
don't eat nearly enough roughage. Peppers count as roughage, and are often
paired with other healthy/fresh items.

Similar correlations have been found with avocados. Avocados aren't
particularly healthy when compared to other fruits and vegetables (not to say
that they're unhealthy), however eating avocados correlates with better
overall dietary quality.

Generally if you're buying more expensive fresh vegetables, you're probably
eating that in place of unhealthy processed foods.

Indigestible dietary fiber also helps regulate "fullness." Seeing as the
stomach is filled with largely indigestible fiber, instead of high-calorie
digestible carbohydrates, it takes far fewer calories to feel full. The work
the digestive system has to do in order to break down the roughage also helps
mitigate blood glucose levels, by preventing rapid spikes.

If one were to eat just carbs, their readily digestible nature allows the
energy to immediately be absorbed. However, the pairing with vegetables slows
down the absorption of the carbs, by forcing the digestive system to work on
the vegetables in addition to the carbs.

Now this isn't to say carbohydrates are bad, but they shouldn't make up the
majority of ones dietary volume.

~~~
nickpsecurity
This is a great comment. I particularly agree that people eating real peppers
are probably eating other healthy things. Really important to capture all
these incidental things that exist in the group one is studying to see if it's
actually _those_ having the effect. We also know that many foods they might be
buying fresh have direct health benefits. Naturally, I wonder if if the
peppers's benefits, the big ones, are just incidental on top of the type of
people eating them or their other food intake.

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squarefoot
Nice! Given the level of capsicin contained in my blood, I can then declare
I'm immortal:)

Seriously, this is something I heard many many years ago. Don't know if it's
just a popular belief or something proved scientifically but I had many people
tell me that eating hot pepper is very good for health. Roughly the same for
garlic.

~~~
Kirth
Around here (Western Europe) I've never heard or seen anyone say they believed
spicy food was healthy. I mostly got told too much of it is bad for your
liver, though I don't know how well proven that is either.

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cellularmitosis
I wonder if this is an example of hormesis?
[http://gettingstronger.org/hormesis/](http://gettingstronger.org/hormesis/)

I'll use this opportunity to recommend all of Dr. Rhonda Patrick's appearances
on the Joe Rogan podcast. She discusses the science behind many nutrition and
health topics, including hormesis:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=rhonda+patrick+jre](https://www.google.com/search?q=rhonda+patrick+jre)

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kirse
It's not _that_ huge of a win, roughly 9-10 of that extra 13 percent is spent
in the bathroom. Study finds relaxing on the throne decreases mortality?

~~~
muddyrivers
So hilarious! Got to build up the tolerance so as to enjoy spicy food more and
spend less in the bathroom :)

~~~
ibejoeb
Jokes aside, it seems to me that anything to which a healthy adult needs to
develop a _tolerance_ is not one that is intrinsically healthful.

~~~
oh_sigh
Why?

You develop tolerance to exercise, is that not healthy?

If you've never done squats before, go do a couple reps. You probably will be
sore and stiff for the next 4 days. Keep it up and one will develop a
tolerance and (generally) have a healthier body than if one didnt do any kind
of exercise.

~~~
ibejoeb
Yes, I squat. You're talking about physical conditioning. That is not a
tolerance.

That is quite different from introducing a foreign substance into your body
and coping with the consequences.

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blazespin
Yeah.... let's see it replicated first.

~~~
avani
But.. but.. it's in PloS One! :)

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bhauer
It's probably a trivial matter, but is anyone else confused as to why the
color red is cited throughout the article? Presumably the color of the peppers
has nothing to do with the findings. Right?

~~~
strainer
The red (green and yellow) color of peppers is due to various carotenoids --
pigments such lutein and zeaxanthin -- which are considered to be central to
whatever is particularly healthy about eating plenty of "leafy green"
vegetables (and _carrots_ ). These nutrients are also highly concentrated in
non 'hot' peppers like paprika. They could be involved in the studies results
and really deserved a mention.

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jasonkostempski
I love hot stuff, I only avoid it because I hate having a runny nose. Is that
something that goes away with consistent exposure?

~~~
fritzw
Well, yes, as your tolerance builds your reaction to the heat will reduce and
so will your runny nose.

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smith2008
Correlation is not causation.

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gregjor
Pretty sure the human mortality rate is still 100℅.

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personjerry
So if I eat enough peppers I'll live forever?

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mtgx
30 years from now: eating too many hot peppers gives you stomach cancer.

~~~
trav4225
I think you mean "30 hours from now" ;-)

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codecamper
vitamin C?

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muddyrivers
Empirical observation: I find women who love spicy food usually have better,
smoother skins.

~~~
fritzw
Referring to human skin in the plural makes it sound ultra creepy...

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mbfg
Corrolation is not Causation. It is more likely that people who are not
robust, and therefore in gross numbers more likely to die earlier, are smart
enough not to destroy themselves by eating spicy foods.

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halspero
Will I live longer, or not? Are hot peppers good for my health, or not? Is the
mechanism known, or not? Are they recommended by experts, or not?

~~~
themgt
Did you RTFA, or not?

 _There are some possible explanations for red chili peppers’ health benefits,
state Chopan and Littenberg in the study. Among them are the fact that
capsaicin – the principal component in chili peppers – is believed to play a
role in cellular and molecular mechanisms that prevent obesity and modulate
coronary blood flow, and also possesses antimicrobial properties that “may
indirectly affect the host by altering the gut microbiota.”_

~~~
halspero
No no. That's only a 'possible' explanation. In articles such as these you'll
find plenty of 'may'-s, 'might'-s, 'can'-s and 'further research'-s.

The vagueness and intellectual cowardice are exasperating. Don't be afraid to
call it out when correlations are two-a-penny and funding is at stake. There
are _problems_ crying out for research.

~~~
astrodust
Welcome to the world of journalism. If you want something stated with absolute
certainty when the facts don't support that maybe you want to read propaganda.

~~~
halspero
Well, certainty isn't available whatever the facts! So it's not relevant here.

There's no contradiction between fallibilism and asserting that some
scientific explanation is true. This study doesn't assert anything apart from
an 'association'. Yet progress is made by addressing theoretical problems, not
by looking for assocations, which are everywhere.

As for 'propaganda' I think you've got it the wrong way around. It's the
people who applaud this kind of non-result who are seeking a kind of
uncritical 'Yay Science' experience.

~~~
astrodust
Those people are called the "lay public" and they're capable of believing that
caffeine is both good for preventing heart disease and a major cause of heart
disease at the same time.

