The Impact of Hot Peppers and Spicy Sauces on Longevity and Cancer Cells

If you are one of those people who add hot sauce to all your meals, you will be pleased to hear the results of recent research on the role of hot peppers in increasing lifespan and the health of body cells. New Zealand scientists say that consuming hot peppers not only increases lifespan but may also help the body's cells fight cancer. According to Time magazine, Dr. David Popovich, a nutritionist at Massey University in New Zealand, has found that capsaicin, one of the components of hot peppers, promotes the health of body cells. Dr. Popovich states that consuming any kind of vegetables improves individual health, but hot peppers, if you can eat them, are particularly beneficial. In 2006, a research team found that high levels of capsaicin slowed the growth of cancer cells in mice. However, recent research indicates that consuming this spicy substance can attach to cancer cells and alter their internal workings. Although it is still unclear how capsaicin interacts with cancer cells to slow their growth, scientists have observed how this substance attaches to the surface of cancer cells; an attachment that apparently causes chemical changes on the surface of these cells. If enough capsaicin is added to these cells, the cancer cells disintegrate and break down. Dr. Popovich, who has studied the effect of capsaicin on cancer cells in the lab, tells Time magazine that although this theory has not yet been conclusively proven, one reason for the destruction of cancer cells in the presence of this substance found in hot peppers could be that capsaicin accelerates a process called apoptosis in cancer cells. Apoptosis can simply be defined as the cellular suicide of cells that are no longer needed in the body. According to Science Alert, this is not the first time that the effect of spicy foods on individuals' health has been confirmed by scientists. Another study conducted last year by a research team at Harvard University on five hundred thousand Chinese adults showed that the percentage of lifespan for those who eat spicy food six or seven times a week is fourteen percent higher than others.