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Research conducted in a Chinese population has found an intriguing link between the consumption of chilli peppers and a heightened risk of cognitive decline.
What is dementia?
Dementia is a term that describes a variety of symptoms affecting a person’s cognitive functioning, including their ability to think, remember, and reason. It tends to get worse over time, so there are a few key early warning signs.
Research conducted in a Chinese population has found an intriguing link between the consumption of chilli peppers and a heightened risk of cognitive decline.
Dementia occurs when nerve cells in a person’s brain stop working. Although it typically happens in older people, it is not an inevitable part of aging. These early signs of dementia are:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty planning or solving problems
- Difficulty doing familiar tasks
- Being confused about time or place
- Challenges understanding visual information
- Problems speaking or writing
- Misplacing things
- Poor judgment or decision-making
- Withdrawal from socializing
- Changes in personality or mood
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Spices and their multicultural use
Many populations around the world add spicy peppers to their local dishes to enhance the taste and make for a more punchy culinary experience. But are spicy peppers healthful, or do they pose any health risks? The spiciest peppers in the world, such as the Carolina Reaper, could cause serious, immediate damage.
Dementia is a term that describes a variety of symptoms affecting a person’s cognitive functioning, including their ability to think, remember, and reason.
For example, in 2018, a man from the United States who ate a Carolina Reaper as part of a dare in a hot pepper eating contest ended up in the emergency room with a thunderclap headache.
However, most people will not reach for the extreme versions of this hot vegetable. Instead, most cuisines use much milder varieties — some of which are still very spicy — such as jalapeños, cherry peppers, cayenne peppers, Scotch bonnets, and habaneros.
Read more: Can social interaction predict mental decline?
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Previous research into the potential effects of chilli peppers on health has generally had positive findings. A large cohort study from 2017, for instance, found that eating hot red chilli peppers was associated with lower mortality risk.
The main active ingredient in hot peppers and the one that makes them spicy is capsaicin, so it is most likely that this compound plays a lead role in hot peppers’ potential effect on health.
Many populations around the world add spicy peppers to their local dishes to enhance the taste and make for a more punchy culinary experience.
In spite of encouraging findings about the association between chilli peppers and mortality, no studies in humans had seriously evaluated how these hot vegetables might affect cognitive decline. Now, the findings of a longitudinal cohort study in a large Chinese population suggest that consistently eating a large amount of chilli pepper could hasten cognitive decline, increasing a person’s dementia risk.
The research — presented in a study paper that features in the journal Nutrients — involved 4,582 Chinese participants aged over 55. The research team was led by Zumin Shi, Ph.D., from Qatar University, in Doha.
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Higher risk at over 50 grams of chilli per day
“Chili consumption was found to be beneficial for body weight and blood pressure in our previous studies. However, in this study, we found adverse effects on cognition among older adults,” notes Zumin.
The researchers found that people who ate more than 50 grams of chilli per day on a regular basis had almost twice the risk of cognitive decline of people who ate less than this amount of chilli.
A large cohort study from 2017, for instance, found that eating hot red chilli peppers was associated with lower mortality risk.
“Derived from dietary surveys, chilli intake included both fresh and dried chilli peppers, but did not include sweet capsicum or black pepper,” the researchers mention in their study paper.
The team also noted that participants who generally ate a greater amount of chilli tended to have a lower financial income, as well as a lower body mass index (BMI). They also engaged in less physical activity, compared with people who ate a smaller amount of chilli pepper.
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Moreover, the investigators suggest that people with a healthy BMI may have a more heightened sensitivity to capsaicin than those who are clinically overweight. The heightened sensitivity, the team adds, may also explain why these people may have a higher risk of cognitive decline.
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Zumin and colleagues also saw that people who ate more chilli tended to be younger than people who did not eat chilli. “Furthermore,” the researchers write, “there was no association between chilli consumption and BMI or hypertension in this population, and therefore, it is possible that older people in this population avoided chilli consumption due to chronic disease.”
Read more: Can medicines increase dementia risk?
Another factor that seemed to play a role in how much chilli participants ate was their education level. In the conclusion to the study paper, the researchers note:
“In our study, there was a significant difference in chilli intake among people with different education levels. Therefore, it is possible that the confounding effect of education may still contribute to the relationship between chilli intake and cognitive function.”
For this reason, the investigators suggest that further trials should aim to assess the link between education level, chilli intake, and the risk of cognitive decline.