I may be one chili away from dementia.
My fellow traveler on the digital autobahn, Jennifer Rose, provides a constant stream of blog fodder. This week it is an article from Medical News Today.
I will confess that I have been a bit smug over the last few years as the studies rolled in concerning people who regularly consume food loaded down with chilies. The studies show they may have increased their chances of a healthier life. Lower mortality rate. Heightened sexuality. Lower blood pressure. Lower rates of heart disease. Easier weight control.
Medical science appeared to be crowning chilies the king of healthy living.
But, if you choose to live by medical studies, you will just as easily die by them. It turns out that all of us spicy food aficionados, who are lean and living longer, bragging about our low blood pressure and healthy hearts, and having a sex life envied by all, may eventually not be able to personally appreciate our culinary boon.
A 15-year study of 4,582 Chinese older than 55 has concluded that the daily consumption of more than 50 grams of chili, markedly increases the chance of developing dementia. The effects were markedly greater on study members who were lean. The study sounds like one of those evil genies who grant wishes with literal accuracy.
I always read these studies with a barge-load of skepticism. Most of the reported results sound as if they would be right at home amongst the banner headlines of The Enquirer -- "Elvis spotted with JFK, Alexander I, and Amelia Earhart on Onassis island." The only exception, of course, is any study that supports one of our more obvious vices.
Putting aside the skepticism, let's assume that all of the chili studies are true. I suspect most people are not going to stop eating chilies for fear of dementia. Just as chili-haters did not take up eating them solely to lower their blood pressure. I give people much more credit than being nutrition fad sheeple.
People who eat chilies eat them because they like the taste. People who don't, don't. Studies most likely will not change that.
But here is the kicker. If you have been trying to figure out just how much 50 grams of chilies are, it's a lot. I did some internet research and a bit of kitchen weighing. If my calculations are correct, to get to the 50 gram level, you would need to eat about eight serranos each day.
I eat a lot of spicy food. For Breakfast. For lunch. For dinner. Usually a mix of serranos and habaneros. But I probably eat no more than 40 grams on a spicy day.
If I were inclined to modify my diet based on fad scientific studies, I would do nothing as a result of the Chinese study on dementia. I simply would not qualify.
But that also means I had better stop evangelizing about the holistic health benefits of the chili. I suspect any benefits are limited to the few people who eat an incredible number of peppers.
It is too bad the benefits do not accrue at a lower level of ingestion. It would give Mexico another set of bragging rights. After all, every chili pepper in the world originated in Mexico.
As for me, I am going to work on increasing my consumption of chilies. Simply because they add so much to food.
I just hope I do not forget why.
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