Relationship between spicy flavor, spicy food intake frequency, and general obesity in a rural adult Chinese population: The RuralDiab study

Mediation effect of body mass index on the association between spicy food intake and hyperuricemia in rural Chinese adults: the Henan Rural Cohort Study

“…Furthermore, in the mediation analysis BMI played a full mediation with spicy food avor or intake frequency and hyperuricemia. These ndings supported our hypothesis, it seems plausible that spicy food intake predisposes to high BMI and general obesity [19,20], and in turn to high serum uric acid and hyperuricemia [32].…”

“…Firstly, large number of studies had proved that obesity is an independent risk factor for hyperuricemia in US [31], China [32], Japan [33], and Korean patients [34] despite the heterogeneity in ethnicity, cross-sectional, case-control, or cohort study design. In addition, some large sample studies had found the relationship between spicy food consumption and obesity, as our previous study have found that spicy avor and spicy food frequency were associated with increased risk of general obesity or abdominal obesity [20], it is consistent with the ndings in the CKB study, the strength and frequency of spicy food consumption was positively associated with BMI and other adiposity measures [19]. Moreover, a recent cross-sectional study also showed that spicy food intake can increase the risk of overweight/obesity [35].…”

“…Firstly, a potential explanation for the positive relationship between spicy food intake and hyperuricemia may be the meat-based diet with chili intake in Chinese cuisines [40]. In Chinese cuisines, spicy food is inclined to be more meat-based rather than vegetable-based, excessive fat meat intake with spicy foods may increase the risk of obesity [19], general obesity is an independent risk factor for hyperuricemia. Spicy food intake also may increase carbohydrates intake to relieve the burning sensation (20) , which might result in more weight gain and a high BMI.…”

“…Although some previous studies have shown bene cial effects of spicy food consumption on obesity and other chronic diseases [11,[14][15][16], there are inconsistent results of the association between spicy food intake and obesity have been reported in animal and human intervention studies [17,18]. The China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study found that spicy food consumption was positively associated with BMI and other adiposity measures among half a million Chinese people [19], Our previous also found spicy avor, spicy food intake frequency was positively associated with general obesity [20]. Many epidemiologic studies found that obesity was a major risk factor for hyperuricemia [21,22].…”

The third dimension of flavor: A chemesthetic approach to healthier eating (a review)

“…Frequent hot chili pepper consumers in the United States have been shown to have better overall long‐term health: chili likers were 13% less likely to die during a 20 year period than chili dislikers in a study of 16,000 North Americans who completed food questionnaires (Chopan & Littenberg, ). However, this trend does not necessarily translate to other food cultures in which the consumption of chili pepper is more prevalent; surprisingly, a study in China found that spicy flavor and spicy food frequency were positively correlated with obesity (Yang et al, ). This cultural difference in the connection between spicy food and health is possibly due to an indirect connection between spicy food consumption and other qualities; perhaps Western consumers who are more likely to be frequent chili pepper consumers share other qualities that promote a higher level of overall health and wellbeing.…”