Eating Spicy Foods Linked to Lower Salt Consumption, BP

Participants who preferred spicy foods appeared to consume less salt and have lower blood pressure, according to the findings of a recent study.

In their study, the researchers recruited 606 adults from 4 different provinces in China and stratified them by their preference for spicy or salty flavors. The researchers also measured the participants’ blood pressure and took magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 2 regions of their brains known to be involved in salty taste—the insula and orbitofrontal cortex.
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The researchers found that those who preferred spicy foods had 8 mm Hg lower systolic and 5 mm Hg lower diastolic blood pressure compared with those who did not prefer spicy foods. In addition, participants who consumed more spicy foods were found to consume less salt than those with a low spicy food preference. 

Furthermore, the MRI results showed that the areas of the brain stimulated by salt and spice overlapped. The authors found that spicy flavors increased brain activity in areas activated by salt and postulated that this increase might have made these participants more sensitive to salt, which would reduce their need for high amounts of salt in their food.

“In conclusion, enjoyment of spicy foods may significantly reduce individual salt preference, daily salt intake, and blood pressure by modifying the neural processing of salty taste in the brain,” the researchers concluded. “Application of spicy flavor may be a promising behavioral intervention for reducing high salt intake and blood pressure.”

While the study results are promising, the authors noted that other studies in different countries are need to determine if this can be generalized to other populations.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Li Q, Cui Y, Jin R, et al. Enjoyment of spicy flavor enhances central salty-taste perception and reduces salt intake and blood pressure [published online October 31, 2017]. Hypertension. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.117.09950.