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Good news Gentlemen!

Eat your chili peppers. Habanero, jalapeno, Scotch bonnet - those hot but tasty varieties of the capsicum frutescens have multiple health benefits - including the ability to drive prostate cancer cells to kill themselves.

It's true that Yale University reported a close association between the hot pods and stomach cancer in Mexican workers who ate from 9 to 25 jalapenos a day. It is also true that this information has been disputed by other researchers who found that rates of stomach cancer declined in the United States, despite of fact consumption of salsa, chili and other hot foods actually had increased.

But a recent study found that increased concentration of capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot, caused more prostate cancer cells to freeze in a non-proliferative phase. Researchers concluded that capsaicin had a severe anti-proliferative action on human prostate cancer cells in culture. The cancer cells literally committed suicide. Capsaicin also generated an important deceleration of the development of prostate tumors formed by those human cell lines grown in mouse models.

In recent years hot peppers received positive opinions from many researchers for their antioxidant, or cancer-fighting, action. Anti-inflammatory properties in peppers have been tapped for treatment of migraines, arthritis and muscle pain. Capsaicin from hot peppers has also been found effective against leukemia.

Hot peppers are a good source of vitamins A, C and E, potassium and folic. They are low in calories and sodium and contain no carbohydrates. Their taste has spawned a lot of appreciation societies around the world, not to mention global competitions to determine the hottest variety on the planet.

Hot peppers also have been found to be an effective appetite suppressant and working to clear a stuffy head; they can aggravate existing heartburn but not cause it.

What does this mean in the kitchen? Mexican food or curry fans are in luck: the hotter the pepper, the more the benefit. Enjoy