Can You Cheat Death With Hot Sauce?

The researchers remind us, though, that this association was demonstrated in another population: A recent study from 2015 including more than 500,000(!) Chinese people found a 14 percent risk-of-death reduction in spicy food eaters. They also suggest several mechanisms, which might explain the connection, among them, that capsaicin, the main substance that causes the tingling hotness in peppers, has antimicrobial properties. These might affect the bacteria in the gut, and cause the microbiome of individuals to be colonized by more healthful bacteria. The microbiome, a hot research topic, we are discovering, is linked to many diseases — from diabetes to obesity and heart disease.