After 23 years studying over 16,000 American adults, researchers of the study recorded just under 5,000 deaths. After controlling for health issues, they determined that the participants who ate hot red chili peppers were 13 percent less likely to die than those who did not.



According to The New York Times, although the findings are purely observational, capsaicin, the component that makes chili peppers spicy hot, "has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties that may be linked to disease prevention." (Capsaicin is used in some salves to combat joint or muscle pain, for instance.) As The Timesnoted, a recent study conducted in 2015 in China produced similar results.