A red hot chili pepper a day might not be to everyone’s taste.
But now there’s more reason than ever to put up with the heat and embrace the spice.
A research by the US Public Library of Science has disclosed that regular consumption of red hot chili peppers could extend your life by 13 per cent, giving the average Brit an extra 10.5 years.
It states that those consume chili pepper had a lower risk of dying than those who didn’t.
People who ate red chilies on regular basis had a mortality rate of under 22 per cent, while those that avoided cooking with them had a rate of over 33 per cent.
A component called ‘capsicum’ is the cause of both the chili’s health benefits and its fiery bite, experts at PLoS say.
This isn’t the first time scientists have explored the healing effects of capsicum.
Only last month, scientists from the Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany, treated human samples of breast cancer cells with the peppery ingredient to find out more about their ability to destroy them.
Chilies have also been used by health fanatics for their supposed ability to speed up fat loss.
Capsicum can allegedly increase the speed the body metabolises fat and protect against bad teeth.
Different types of hot peppers contain pro-A, B and C vitamins, antioxidants and can have inflammatory effects.
