Loose Women: Dr Hilary discusses how to live longer

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Life expectancy in the UK has dipped slightly in the past few years, the Office for National Statistics reports. Many are looking for healthy habits and lifestyle tweaks to introduce to their routines in order to boost their longevity. One food which may cut your risk of two major health conditions can help with this.

The small food which may guard against diabetes and heart disease is chilli, according to research.

A research team, led by Dr Kiran Ahuja, has found that the spicy red food has the potential to prevent these two potentially deadly diseases.

The researchers pinpointed two active ingredients to the chilli potency.

These two ingredients that have various beneficial effects are capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin.

Reducing the risk of diabetes, these two goodies are able to lower blood sugar levels.

Even though type 1 diabetes isn’t currently thought to be preventable, type 2 can be cut by the right lifestyle choices and a healthy diet, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

One of the main problems linked to type 2 diabetes are elevated blood sugar levels.

This is because the insulin made by the pancreas of someone with diabetes can’t work properly or there isn’t enough of it, Diabetes UK explains.

When it comes to heart disease, capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in chilli are able to reduce the formation of fatty deposits on artery walls and prevent blood clots.

Both fatty deposits and blood clots are risk factors for heart disease as these two are “usually” the culprit behind cardiovascular diseases, the NHS explains.

The small hot food can also lower the oxidation of “bad” cholesterol, reducing the build-up of plaque formations in the arteries.

Furthermore, the study has found that eating a meal that packs chillies can also lower post-meal blood sugar and insulin concentrations.

Dr Ahuja said: “In future, this simple dietary addition may assist in the management of the increasingly common and serious conditions of diabetes and heart disease.

“Based on our earlier research, we anticipate that the consumption of chilli by people with impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes will provide significant improvements in post-meal blood glucose, insulin and other risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.”

The effects of chillies have been also investigated by a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

This study found that eating chilli at least four times a week presents a 44-percent lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease.

Further adding to the longevity boost claim, this study also found that eating chillies can lower death rates overall.

However, the study was only observational, meaning it can’t prove that chillies cause the results but merely show the association, the British Heart Foundation states.

Also, the study doesn’t specify the type of chilli peppers consumed.

Other things you can implement into your routine to guard yourself against diabetes and heart disease are exercise, a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight, the NHS advises.

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