Association of Spicy Chilli Food Consumption With Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ofori-Asenso, Richard; Mohsenpour, Mohammad Ali; Nouri, Mehran; Faghih, Shiva; Liew, Danny; Mazidi, Mohsen
• Is Part Of: Angiology. Volume 72:Number 7(2021)
• Page Start: 625
• Page End: 632
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: spicy food -- chili pepper -- cardiovascular -- all-cause mortality; Blood-vessels -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Cardiovascular system -- Diseases -- Periodicals; 616.13005
• DOI: 10.1177/0003319721995666
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-3197

Abstract

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the association between spicy food (chilli pepper, chilli sauce, or chilli oil) consumption with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Medline and EMBASE were searched from their inception until February 2020 to identify relevant prospective cohort studies. Hazard ratios (HRs)/relative risk (RRs) were pooled via random-effect meta-analysis. Of the 4387 citations identified, 4 studies (from the United States, China, Italy, and Iran) were included in the meta-analysis. The included studies involved a total of 564 748 adults (aged ≥18 years; 51.2% female) followed over a median duration of 9.7 years. The pooled data suggested that compared with people who did not regularly consume spicy food (none/<1 d/wk), regular consumers of spicy food experienced a 12% (HR/RRpooled 0.88, 95% CI, 0.86-0.90; I 2 = 0%) lower risk of all-cause mortality. Moreover, spicy food consumption was associated with significant reduction in the risk of death from cardiac diseases (HR/RRpooled 0.82, 0.73-0.91; I 2 = 0%), but not from cerebrovascular disorders (HR/RRpooled 0.79, 0.53-1.17; I 2 = 72.2%). In conclusion, available epidemiological studies suggest that the consumption of spicy chilli food is associated with reduced risk of all-cause as well as heart disease–related mortality. Further studies in different populations are needed to confirm this association.