Chilli irritates the intestines and stomach, which is not equal to carcinogenesis If Columbus had not discovered the new world and brought pepper back to Europe, and if the Spanish had not introduced pepper into China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, only Americans in the world might eat pepper. Nowadays, pepper is popular all over the world and has become an indispensable ingredient on the table. Gao Lian, a drama writer and health preserving scientist in the Ming Dynasty, recorded in Zunsheng eight notes: "Pepper clusters, white flowers, fruit like bald pen, spicy and red, very impressive." Pepper, namely pepper, initially existed as an ornamental plant and was not eaten until it was introduced into southwest China. The reason is that pepper can replace scarce well salt as a better seasoning. At the same time, local people believe that eating spicy and dampness dispelling pepper has gradually become the essence of Sichuan cuisine. The entrance of pepper will stimulate the nerve endings of the tongue and mouth. Under the command of the brain center, people's heart beats faster, saliva and sweat secretion increase, and appetite opens. At the same time, the brain thinks there is "pain" coming, releasing more endorphins, making people feel the pleasure of eating spicy food. Survey data show that about 1 / 3 of China's 1.4 billion people eat pepper every day. Because China's incidence rate incidence of cancer of the digestive tract, such as esophageal cancer, stomach cancer and colon cancer is high, especially the incidence rate and mortality rate of esophageal cancer are the highest in the world. Many people who focus on health preservation think that eating chili often will harm the stomach and intestines. After all, the intuition of eating chili is "hot". Some studies have analyzed this view and found that people who like to eat pepper are more prone to abdominal obesity, which happens to be a high-risk factor for colorectal cancer. Therefore, it gives people the impression that "people who like to eat pepper are prone to colorectal cancer". For people with sensitive constitution or weak gastrointestinal function, pepper is indeed easy to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract and cause discomfort reactions such as stomach pain and diarrhea, but this can not be equated with cancer. Taking colon cancer as an example, there is no research to prove that its occurrence is related to the love of eating pepper. On the contrary, many studies have pointed out that colorectal cancer is more closely related to four factors: first, there is a family history of colorectal cancer or a genetic history of intestinal polyps. About 1 / 3 of patients with colorectal cancer have a family history, especially those whose onset age is earlier than 45 years old; Two, there are diabetes, obesity and other disease factors. Data show that patients with diabetes have a higher risk of colon cancer about 3 times than normal people. Third, poor eating habits, love to eat red meat and processed meat, such as bacon and bacon, may face a higher risk of colorectal cancer; Fourth, poor living habits, especially sedentary people, lack of exercise is a high-risk factor for colorectal cancer, and it is also one of the main reasons for the gradual rejuvenation of the population with colorectal cancer. Often eat spicy food, lower risk of cancer Whether pepper is related to cancer needs to be confirmed by authoritative research. Now, there is a more credible answer to this question. Recently, researchers from China Academy of Medical Sciences and University of Oxford of England published a study on pepper, which reflected the relationship between spicy food consumption and the incidence rate of 3 main digestive tract cancers, including esophageal cancer, gastric cancer and intestinal cancer. Specifically, the risk of esophageal cancer, gastric cancer and colorectal cancer decreased by 19%, 11% and 10% respectively for people who ate chili peppers every day compared with those who hardly ate chili peppers; If you eat chili peppers and don't smoke or drink, the risk of these three cancers decreases even more. The study involved 512000 adults aged 30 to 79 who were recruited from five cities and five rural areas in China between 2004 and 2008. The definition of eating chili or spicy food in the study is: eating fresh chili, dry chili, chili oil, chili sauce, curry, and directly adding chili to food as cooking products, including adding chili oil / sauce / paste to rice. According to the frequency of consumption, participants were divided into five groups: 1 Never eat spicy food; 2. Occasionally eat spicy food (once a month); 3. Eat spicy food 1-2 days a week; Eat spicy food 3-5 days a week; 5. Eat spicy food 6-7 days a week. The researchers also investigated the age at which the participants began to eat spicy food frequently, the intensity of spicy taste they liked (weak, medium and strong), and the types of spicy food they often ate (fresh pepper, dry pepper, chili sauce, chili oil, etc.). As of January 1, 2017, after a median follow-up of 10.1 years, there were 8761 cases of gastrointestinal cancer, including 2350 cases of esophageal cancer, 3350 cases of gastric cancer and 3061 cases of colorectal cancer. After adjusting for demographics, lifestyle and other dietary factors, the results showed that people who often eat spicy food had a lower risk of gastrointestinal cancer than others. Specifically, compared with those who never ate spicy food, the risk of esophageal cancer in the other four groups was reduced by 12%, 24%, 16% and 19% respectively, and the risk of gastric cancer was reduced by 3%, 5%, 8% and 11% respectively. As for colorectal cancer, the risk of cancer decreased in the last three groups, which were 5%, 13% and 10% respectively. The study pointed out that if you eat pepper without smoking or drinking, you can get greater benefits and reduce the risk of cancer more significantly, especially esophageal cancer. Previously, foreign studies have found that people who like to eat pepper have a 23% reduction in the risk of cancer. It can be seen that eating pepper has more advantages than disadvantages for health. Capsaicin can inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori Although this study on more than 510000 people in China shows that pepper has anti-cancer effect, its mechanism has not been described in detail and needs to be revealed by further research. However, previous studies have given information from another perspective that the anticancer effect of pepper may be related to the inhibition of Helicobacter pylori. Helicobacter pylori can induce gastrointestinal cancers such as gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric lymphoma, and capsaicin in Pepper (i.e. the pungent component in pepper) can inhibit the breeding of Helicobacter pylori. Nicola L. Jones of the Department of Gastroenterology and nutrition at the University of Toronto in Canada found that capsaicin can specifically inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori in a dose-dependent manner, but will not inhibit the growth of E. coli symbiotic with human feces. Regular consumption of pepper can not only inhibit Helicobacter pylori, but also prevent a variety of gastric cancer and reduce related gastric and duodenal diseases. In addition to inhibiting Helicobacter pylori, capsaicin has a variety of physiological functions, including increasing appetite and promoting digestion; Protect gastric mucosa, prevent and treat gastric ulcer. The reason is that pepper can stimulate the release of human prostaglandin E2, which is conducive to promoting the regeneration of gastric mucosa and maintaining the function of gastrointestinal cells, so as to prevent and treat gastric ulcer. However, there is a quantitative choice. Capsaicin content in the range of 1% - 5% has a protective effect on the stomach. This proportion is difficult to quantify in real life. You can set it according to your eating habits. Even if you eat spicy food 5-7 times a week, you have no discomfort and belong to the healthy range. However, it should be reminded that people with congestion, edema, erosion, ulcer, severe gastritis and gastric ulcer in the mouth, esophagus and stomach should not eat too much spicy food, but a small amount is OK. In addition, capsaicin can also promote fat metabolism and reduce fat; Analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipruritic; Dispel wind and dampness and protect joint health. Eating pepper also helps to reduce cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in December 2019 conducted a median follow-up of 22811 Italian volunteers for 8.2 years. The results showed that eating chili peppers four times a week could significantly reduce the mortality of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and reduce the overall risk of death by 23%. Pepper contains unique Dihydrocapsaicin ester and weight loss effect. In one study, subjects were given Dihydrocapsaicin ester and placebo respectively. After eating, the subjects taking Dihydrocapsaicin ester consumed more calories than the placebo group. Among them, a woman weighing 50kg consumes about 100 calories a day; A man weighing 90kg consumes 200 more calories a day. In fact, pepper has more functions and health effects than that. According to the data of China's food composition table, in addition to providing energy (282 kcal per 100g), pepper is also rich in protein, fat, sugar, dietary fiber, folic acid, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and a variety of vitamins. Among them, vitamin C is the most abundant. The vitamin C of small red pepper is up to 144 mg per 100 grams, seven times that of tomatoes and four times that of oranges. As we all know, vitamin C has the function of antioxidation and protecting cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health. Chinese and British researchers have confirmed that the anti-cancer mechanism of pepper includes the anti-cancer effect of vitamin C in pepper. According to the existing research, we can draw a conclusion that pepper with a long history in the food culture is indeed a good food material and has many benefits. We can decide whether to eat it according to our taste preferences and gastrointestinal tolerance. However, due to its inherent stimulating taste, people with hemorrhoids need to eat less. In addition, some people often make the dishes very oily when eating spicy food, which is also undesirable. (outlook new era)