Eating chilies is known to bring many health benefits. CFP
什么东西是可红可绿，可圆可尖，可大可小，更重要的是，让人又爱又恨？没错，答案就是辣椒。
Many of us in China enjoy adding chilies to our food, but did you know that this spicy vegetable could also be dangerous?
在我国，有不少人喜欢在食物里放辣椒，但你知道这种辛辣的蔬菜或许也会带来危险吗？
A 34-year-old US man recently ended up in hospital after eating a Carolina Reaper, the spiciest chili in the world. After taking just a single bite of one, the man suffered from “thunderclap”headaches in the following few days, reported BBC News.
最近，一名34岁的美国男子在吃了世界上最辣的辣椒 —— “卡罗来纳死神”后被送医救治。据BBC新闻报道，才咬了这种辣椒一口，该男子就在接下来的几天中都感到头痛欲裂。
In fact, reports of stomachache and headache caused by eating spicy food are not something unusual. But if chilies are harmful, why is it that human beings are the only animals to eat this vegetable? According to the website Huanqiu, about 600 million Chinese people – almost half of the national population – are chili eaters. So what makes people love chilies so much? The human body reacts to the burning sensation that comes from eating chilies by releasing endorphins, natural chemicals that “produce a sense of happiness”, noted BBC News.
事实上，因为吃辛辣食物而引起腹痛以及头痛的报道并不稀奇。但要是辣椒有害，为什么唯有人类还在吃呢？据环球网报道，约有6亿中国人 —— 将近我国的半数人口 —— 都吃辣椒。所以为什么人们这么爱吃辣椒？BBC新闻指出，人体会对吃辣椒而产生的燃烧感有反应，释放出内啡肽，这种天然的化学物质会“产生一种幸福感”。
And the benefits go even further than just personal enjoyment. A survey conducted by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, published in the British Medical Journal, found that the mortality rate of those who eat spicy food once or twice a week is 10 percent lower than those who eat it less than once a week. The number decreased to 14 percent for those who eat spicy food six to seven times a week. And another study done by the University of Vermont came to a similar conclusion. “The data encourages people to eat more spicy food to improve health and reduce mortality risk at an early age,” Liu Qi, a nutritionist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, told BBC News.
而（吃辣椒）的好处不仅仅是自我愉悦。中国医学科学院发布于《英国医学杂志》上的一份调查显示，与每周食用辛辣食品不足一次的人群相比，如果每周吃上一到两次，死亡风险就会降低10%。如果每周食用6-7次辛辣食品，死亡风险则会降低14%。而美国佛蒙特大学的另一项研究也得出了相似的结论。“这些数据鼓励人们在年轻时多吃辣来改善健康，降低死亡风险，”来自哈佛陈曾熙公共卫生学院的营养学家刘琪（音译）在接受BBC新闻采访时表示。
Capsaicin has anti-cancer properties and the ability to increase our metabolism. So, don’t worry if you love spicy food. It seems that chilies are actually good for us – except for the Carolina Reaper, perhaps.
辣椒素具有抗癌功效，并且能够加速我们的新陈代谢。所以，爱吃辣没什么可令人担心的。实际上，辣椒似乎对人体有益 —— 或许除了“卡罗来纳死神”之外。
