Spicy food consumption reduces the risk of ischemic stroke: a prospective study.

Previous studies revealed that consuming spicy food reduced mortality from cardiovascular disease and lowered stroke risk. However, no studies reported the relationship between spicy food consumption, stroke types, and dose-response. This study aimed to further explore the association between the frequency of spicy food intake and the risk of stroke in a large prospective cohort study. In this study, 50,174 participants aged 30-79 years were recruited. Spicy food consumption data were collected via a baseline survey questionnaire. Outcomes were incidence of any stroke, ischemic stroke (IS), and hemorrhagic stroke (HS). Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models estimated the association between consumption of spicy food and incident stroke. Restricted cubic spline analysis was used to examine the dose-response relationship. During the median 10.7-year follow-up, 3,967 strokes were recorded, including 3,494 IS and 516 HS. Compared to those who never/rarely consumed spicy food, those who consumed spicy food monthly, 1-2 days/week, and 3-5 days/week had HRs (95% CIs) of 0.914 (0.841,0.995), 0.869 (0.758,0.995), and 0.826 (0.714,0.956) for overall stroke, respectively. For IS, the corresponding HRs (95%CIs) were 0.909(0.832,0.994),0.831(0.718,0.962), and 0.813(0.696,0.951), respectively. This protective effect showed a U-shaped dose-response relationship. For obese participants, consuming spicy food ≥3 days/week was negatively associated with the risk of ischemic stroke. We found consumption of spicy food was negatively associated with the risk of ischemic stroke and had a U-shaped dose-response relationship with risk of ischemic stroke. Individuals who consumed spicy food 3-5 days/week had a significantly lowest risk of ischemic stroke.