Did you know there are cancer fighting foods? And this one is especially hot…
Many people consider food without spice to be completely flavorless and bland. And while there are many different spices available to users, there is perhaps no spice more popular that chili peppers. Chili peppers have the unique ability to blend into most foods very well. And they just add the necessary kick that so many people are after. While its properties for altering the flavors of food are well known, there are also new studies showing how this diverse spice could have more long-term benefits for those who enjoy eating it.
According to a new study published in the journal of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, researchers at Marshall University have drawn important connections between this key ingredient and cancer treatment. According to the results of the study, the substance capsaicin (which is the reason for its spicy taste) can halt the growth of a vast number of different cancers.
Naturally, this doesn’t mean that giving patients chili pepper alone is a viable form of treatment for cancer. But if the substance could be extracted and efficiently delivered to patients, this could change how we treat cancer.
How capsaicin can be delivered to patients was one of the biggest challenges that the researchers in this study faced. According to the author of the published paper, Dasgupta Piyali Dasgupta, Ph. D., said that previous publications of capsaicin formulations in human cancer only briefly covered the topic of sustained-release formulations of capsaicin. As such, the research team needed to do their primary research to fill this gap.
One of the key points made in the report relates to the ability of capsaicin to halt the growth of cancer cells in humans. It is important to note that the focus during the study was not placed on any particular type of cancer which allowed the researchers to make wide conclusions regarding the effect of the substance on multiple different types of conclusions. While this was the first study to be so inclusive, previous studies have shown how the chili pepper compound could be used in the treatment of lung cancer. The fact that the new findings of the study confirm previous studies on the topic is a promising result for the use of capsaicin.
Its positive properties are further proved by global statistics on cancer, which show that in countries where chili is a key ingredient in people’s diets cancer cases are lower than those in countries where chili is not used.
In fact, the five countries with the highest number of cancer cases are Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Hungary, and France according to the World Cancer Research Fund International. These countries rarely if ever use chili peppers. In contrast, the five countries with the lowest number of cases are Niger, Gambia, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Republic of Congo, all five of which tend to have cuisines that favor the use of hot spices like chiles.
With the statistics on cancer cases and the newest research on capsaicin’s use in cancer treatment, it becomes fairly evident that chili peppers are not only a powerful ingredient for flavor but also a powerful ingredient for the promotion of health and the halting of cancer growth.