| This is why Indian people eat Curry! Jokes apart on a more serious note the crux of the study is -- "Compared with those who ate spicy foods less than once a week, those who consumed spicy foods 6 or 7 days a week showed a 14% relative risk reduction in total mortality. " Although this study is very vague, in Asian cultures health benefits of spices and various plant products is well known. Ginger : Has Cox2 inhibitory function. Acting in a similar way to Aspirin and other NSAIDS. Helps prevent heart attacks Curcumin : found in turmeric has anti-inflammatory similar to ginger but is poorly absorbed. Hence mad more benefits for the Gut. Arjuna Terminalis : Bark of the plant is known to have anti-hypertensive benefits. And the list goes on. The problem is that in the traditional way these plants are consumed (unprocessed in food and NOT in EXTRACT form) these have very poor Bioavailability. The only way these so called health benefits would be apparent is if they were part of the diet (you eat them everyday - as noted in the study) or they are consumed in the form of Extract. Also many of these compounds can not be patented and this deters the pharmaceutical industry to make large investments in the clinical trails and bringing them to the market. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/?term=curcumin http://time.com/3984504/turmeric-supplements-curcumin/ |