Peppers Do Not Cause Stomach Cancer

[dvg]

Not sure where to put this topic, so i decided to put it in here.

I was looking up some of the health benefits associated with eating chile peppers.

Some studies have found that asthma, bronchitis, arthritus, strokes, heart attacks and prostate cancer were some of the

health problems supposedly helped or improved through the regular use of adding chile peppers into our daily food intake.

But in some of these reports, it was sometimes mentioned that overuse of chile peppers in the diet could lead to stomach cancer.

I was curious if this was or wasn't true. So I did a google search.

http://www.drmirkin.com/archive/6150.html

This report surmised that the incidence of stomach cancer wasn't necessarily from eating a lot of chile peppers, but

because the people in Mexico that had the higher incidence of stomach cancer were the poorer people. It also just happened

that these poor people ate more chile peppers. So it would seem that the correlation between stomach cancer and living

environment would be higher than the correlation between developing that type of cancer and the eating of hot peppers.

Now that is probably not the end of this discussion, nor the definitive conclusion to be reached here, but whenever I hear

of another study coming out, I'm not always sold on it.

Just another doubting Doug, I guess.

Doug
dvg

 

[roadhouse]

I always figured peppers would prevent cancer, what kind of cancer cells want to enter such a harsh and burning environment??

 

[Moshman]

I wrote a response to this earlier today which took me about 15 mins that I lost thanks to the back key which is on the side of my gaming mouse. I had some references etc. Will repost later, I am typing this on my blacberry so it's out of the question atm.
Good topic though.

 

[franzb69]

from what i've read, they prevent stomach illnesses. and actually help with ulcers and such.

 

[Moshman]

The article you refer to makes some valid points Doug, but lacks any references which can be used as evidence so I would be interested to read any research this guy has actually published on the subject.

I did a little looking this morning and quite quickly found some related medical journal articles, one being http://www.scgcorp.c..._written_11.pdf

Sinha et. al., Cancer Risk and Diet in India, 2003. Journal of Postgrad Medicine Issue 40 pp 222-228

Basically it states that chilies and fresh and sun-dried vegetables which make up a portion of the Indians' diet contains nitrates or nitrosamines and MAY be associated with higher rates of oesophageal cancer (the second most common cancer in males and fourth in females in India). (The key word is may - they cannot quantifiably state that it does.)

A study was conducted on various foods and food additives to determine their ability to give you oesophageal cancer and were given a ranking assumedly with the higher the number, the more at risk you are of developing oesophageal cancer.

The findings:

kalakhar (a highly alkaline substance made from a certain type of banana plant) used as a coffee decoction or during the preparation of curry. Daily consumption meant your risk is 8
spicy foods 5.1
chilies 6.9
alcohol (daily use) 7.81
bidi smoking 1.95
diet low in vegetable consumption 1.88


So basically this article says as usual, alcohol is bad for you - shock horror, and vegetables may give you have a higher chance of getting oesophageal cancer, but of course then if you don't eat vegetables you get a million other problems.
Probably also kalakhar shouldn't be used daily.


One surprising fact from this article was that turmeric was found to inhibit the growth of 19 clinical strains of carcinogenic bacterium linked to the increased risk of adenocarcinoma of the stomach and colorectal adenomas, and supress tumour initiation, promotion and metastasis. (Basically, cancer bad, turmeric good).)
Looks like I may start using turmeric more, it's a hard spice to use but tastes good when used properly.

 

[dvg]

@ Moshman,

Table 3 in the link you supplied lists these dietary factors as being associated with increased risk of stomach in India: dried fish, high-temperature foods, chillies, spicy foods, high consumption of rice and Helicobacter pylori(bacteria).

But right beneath the box is an asterix which states "*Because there have been few large prospective epedemiologic studies in India on many of the factors listed in this table, the information given has been drawn from the best available evidence."

I wasn't able to read the studies done in footnotes 52 and 53, so I can't really comment on what was in them.

Anecdotally though, on most of the Google searches I did, whenever the spectre of stomach cancer was raised in regards to eating hot chile peppers, the Mexican study was cited as evidence.

However, new studies are underway to further investigate this topic, apparently.

Doug
dvg

 

[ajijoe]

capsaisin actually kills cancer!!!

UH OH THE BIG WIGS AND THERE LAP DOGS FROM THE DRUG COMPANIES ARE GONNA BE KNOCKING DOWN MY DOOR ANYTIME NOW SO IF YOU DONT HEAR FROM ME YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

THANKS YOUR FRIEND JOE

 

[Moshman]

I agree doug, as highlighted from the wording used, they couldn't prove the link to chillies, they merely asserted this, I believe it was the easiest explanation in light of a lack of data.

Joe, it will not be in vain. We will avenge you!

 

[wildseed57]

From my own experience its not so much the peppers which are to blame, but the other things that consumed. By all rights I should have a major tumor in my stumach as I have been eating hot peppers since I was 15 I am now 58, almost every meal I eat has some heat from a pepper or is spiced up from my hot pepper powder.
what maily hurts my stomach is the vinegar that is used to pickle some of the peppers I eat.
I also have never known any long time pepper eaters to have problems from eating peppers although some have Liver problems from drinking to much , my mom who is 89 and still eats chiltepins with most of her meals has never had any stomach problems. All of this is just my personal findings, but you can get a small idea from what I have said that Stomach Cancer is probably not one you would get from eating peppers.