The doctor warned about the risks of excessive consumption of spicy food

Chili peppers are often referred to as a life-prolonging product, but scientific evidence has yet to provide a definitive answer. Ekaterina Demyanovskaya, an expert at the Hemotest Laboratory, told Izvestia on July 15 whether spicy food is really useful and whether it can replace the usual disease prevention measures.

"The main interest of scientists is capsaicin, the active substance found in chili peppers and responsible for their burning taste. It affects the receptors associated with the sensation of heat and pain, and can also affect metabolic processes. Laboratory studies show that capsaicin is able to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, positively affect the functioning of blood vessels and slightly increase energy consumption. However, many of these results were obtained in experiments with concentrated preparations, so they cannot be directly transferred to the usual consumption of spicy dishes," the expert explained.

Demyanovskaya noted that scientific data on the benefits and harms of spicy food remain ambiguous. On the one hand, in some countries with traditionally high consumption of spicy dishes, there is an increased incidence of certain types of cancer. On the other hand, large—scale studies show a link between eating spicy foods and reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, and premature death.

At the same time, the expert stressed that such studies do not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship. A person's health is influenced by many factors — the general diet, the level of physical activity, weight, the presence of bad habits, heredity and chronic diseases. In addition, most of these studies have been conducted among the population of countries where spicy food has been part of the traditional diet for many generations.

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"Today, there is no reason to recommend spicy foods as a means of preventing cardiovascular diseases or oncological diseases for residents of Russia," the doctor explained.

If a person is used to spicy food and tolerates it well, it is not necessary to completely exclude such products from the diet. However, people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease and inflammatory bowel diseases, should limit the number of spicy dishes.

According to Demyanovskaya, the widespread myth that moderate consumption of spicy foods necessarily leads to gastritis or ulcers is not supported by modern research. In healthy people, small amounts of spicy foods usually do not damage the gastric mucosa.

At the same time, excessive consumption of pepper and other burning foods can cause unpleasant symptoms such as heartburn, abdominal pain, burning sensation or stool disorders, as well as worsen the condition of latent diseases of the digestive system.

Irina Nikulina, internist, nutritionist, health coach, CEO of Boiron in Russia, said on June 30 that red meat remains one of the most discussed products in the field of healthy nutrition. Despite its high nutritional value, excessive consumption can increase the risk of developing a number of chronic diseases.