Posts tagged blood pressure

The short answer is that spicy food does not appear to raise blood pressure for most people — and there is some evidence that the habit of eating spicy food may modestly lower it. The longer answer involves understanding what capsaicin actually does to the cardiovascular system, what the research has and has not shown, and the practical implications for daily eating. What the Research Shows The strongest evidence comes from large observational studies of populations that eat substantial amounts of chili peppers. A widely cited study of more than 22,000 Italian adults found that regular consumers of chili peppers (four or more times per week) had a 23% lower risk of all-cause mortality and significantly lower rates of cardiovascular disease compared with those who rarely ate them, even after adjusting for other dietary and lifestyle factors.