Eating Chili Peppers May Raise the Risk of One Deadly Cancer
mrpg writes:
Could eating lots of chili peppers affect your cancer risk? Scientists have been debating that question for years, and the answer remains far from simple. While chili peppers contain compounds that have shown anti inflammatory and even anticancer effects in laboratory experiments, some human studies have linked very high consumption to a greater risk of certain cancers of the digestive tract.
A large review published in Frontiers in Nutrition examined the available evidence and found that people who consumed the most chili peppers were more likely to develop certain gastrointestinal cancers, especially esophageal cancer. At the same time, researchers emphasized that the evidence does not prove chili peppers cause cancer and that more rigorous studies are still needed.
[...] Chili peppers are eaten every day by billions of people and are an essential ingredient in cuisines across Asia, Latin America, Africa, and many other parts of the world. Their signature heat comes from capsaicin, a natural compound that activates heat and pain sensing nerve receptors.
Capsaicin has attracted considerable scientific interest. Laboratory studies have suggested it may reduce inflammation, influence metabolism, and even kill certain cancer cells under specific conditions. However, other experiments have found that under different circumstances it could promote tumor growth or contribute to tissue irritation. That conflicting evidence has made its overall effect on cancer difficult to pin down.
To better understand the relationship, researchers combined data from 14 observational studies involving more than 11,000 participants, including over 5,000 people diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancers.
Compared with people who consumed the least chili peppers, those with the highest intake were about 64% more likely to develop gastrointestinal cancers overall.
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