Known for their hot, spicy flavor, chili peppers can elevate any mundane dish and turn it into something spice-tacular. Apart from enhancing flavor, these heart-healthy superfoods can also boost longevity and prevent deadly heart attacks.

Chili peppers can save you from a heart attack

According to Italian researchers, eating chili peppers regularly lowers your risk of death from a heart attack. The researchers arrived at this conclusion after studying the diets of nearly 23,000 people who live in the Italian region of Molise, home of the Mediterranean diet, which many consider to be the healthiest of all diets.

Spices like chili peppers are an essential part of the Mediterranean diet. Along with herbs that grow in the region, chili peppers are placed at the base of the Mediterranean diet pyramid because they are rich in nutrients and are a healthy substitute for salt.

For their study, the researchers scored each person’s eating pattern based on how well they adhered to the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes the consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, olive oil and fatty fish. The diet encourages eating only limited amounts of dairy products and red meat.

The researchers found that people who consumed chili peppers at least four times a week had a 40 percent lower risk of death from heart attack compared to those who rarely ate or ate no chili peppers at all. The regular chili eaters also had a 34 percent lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease and a more than 50 percent lower risk of dying from cerebrovascular diseases like stroke.

Here’s another piece of good news: You can enjoy these benefits even if you don’t follow the Mediterranean diet — just make sure you add chili peppers to your regular diet!

“An interesting fact is that protection from mortality risk was independent of the type of diet people followed,” said lead researcher Marialaura Bonaccio. “In other words, someone can follow the healthy Mediterranean diet, someone else can eat less healthily, but for all of them chili pepper has a protective effect.”

How chili pepper boosts heart health

Chili peppers owe many of their health benefits to capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their hot, pungent flavor. Capsaicin is an antioxidant that has long been used in topical creams to relieve joint pain and muscle aches. According to Dr. DeLisa Fairweather, a cardiovascular disease expert from Mayo Clinic, this plant compound is incredibly beneficial for the heart.

Capsaicin protects against heart disease by reducing inflammation. Inflammation, according to Fairweather, drives plaque buildup in the walls of your blood vessels, which could restrict blood flow and cause a host of problems, such as stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular events.

“There really could be important benefits that you could have from eating hot chili peppers, especially in their ability to reduce some of these immune cell responses that are driving atherosclerosis and heart attacks,” Fairweather said.

Studies also show that capsaicin can help reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels, both of which are risk factors for heart disease. Additionally, capsaicin can inhibit the formation of blood clots.

In a 2014 study, researchers from Hong Kong found that capsaicin lowers blood cholesterol and blocks the expression of a gene that make the arteries contract. The narrowing of the arteries can restrict blood flow to your heart and brain.

Heart-healthy chili pepper recipe

Thanks to their fiery flavor, chili peppers can turn any boring dish into something you’ll never forget. Whip up this heart-healthy chicken-stuffed pepper recipe for a delicious and nutritious meal.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 large bell peppers
• 2 small sweet peppers like Hungarian wax, chopped
• 1 7-ounce can of chipotle peppers in adobo
• 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning or chili powder
• 2 medium chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 4 ounces shredded gouda cheese
• 7 ounces water
• Chopped parsley or cilantro for topping
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparations:

1. Heat a large pot to medium heat and add olive oil.
2. Add onion and sweet peppers and cook for around 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add garlic. Stir and cook for another minute.
4. Season chicken with cajun seasoning, salt and pepper, then add to the pot.
5. Sear each side for a couple of minutes, or until slightly brown.
6. Add tomatoes, chipotle peppers and water, then stir.
7. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
8. Shred chicken using a fork, then stir the mixture. Turn up the heat a bit and simmer for another 20 minutes to slightly reduce the mixture. Stir.
9. Heat the oven to 425 F.
10. Slice the large peppers in half lengthwise and stuff each half with the chicken mixture.
11. Top with cheese and place the stuffed peppers on a large baking dish. Add a bit of water to the dish and bake for 20 minutes.
12. Top with parsley or cilantro once cooked, then serve.

Chili peppers are superfoods that not only add flavor to meals but are also packed with anti-inflammatory nutrients that can keep your heart healthy. Learn how to use chili peppers in your favorite dishes to boost your intake of heart-healthy nutrients like capsaicin!

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk

ScienceDirect.com

EurekaAlert.org

NewsNetwork.MayoClinic.org

ChiliPepperMadness.com