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Sex-dependent difference in the association between frequency of spicy food consumption and risk of hypertension in Chinese adults

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of our study was to explore the association between frequency of spicy food consumption and risk of hypertension in Chinese adults.

Methods

Data were extracted from the 2009 wave of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, consisting of 9273 apparently healthy adults. Height, weight, and blood pressure (BP) were measured and diet was assessed with three consecutive 24-h recalls in combination with a weighed food inventory. Frequency of spicy food consumption and degree of pungency in spicy food consumption were self-reported. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP (SBP) ≥ 140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP (DBP) ≥ 90 mmHg, or having known hypertension. Multilevel mixed-effects models were constructed to estimate changes in SBP and DBP levels as well as risk of hypertension.

Results

Higher frequency of spicy food consumption was significantly associated with lower SBP and DBP levels and lower risk of hypertension in female participants after adjustment for potential confounders (all P trend < 0.05) and cluster effects at different levels (individual, community, and province). Compared with female participants who did not eat spicy food, the adjusted odds ratios of hypertension were 0.740 (95% CI 0.569, 0.963; P = 0.025) in female participants who consumed usually, and 0.760 (95% CI 0.624, 0.925; P = 0.006) in female participants who ate spicy food with moderate pungency. There was no significant association of spicy food consumption with hypertension in male participants.

Conclusions

Frequency of spicy food consumption was inversely associated with risk of hypertension in female, but not male adults.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

BMI:

Body mass index

BP:

Blood pressure

CGRP:

Calcitonin gene-related peptide

CHNS:

The China Health and Nutrition Survey

CI:

Confidence interval

CVDs:

Cardiovascular diseases

DBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

eNOS:

Endothelial nitric oxide synthase

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol

IQR:

Interquartile range

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol

MET:

Metabolic equivalent

MET-h:

Metabolic equivalent hours

OR:

Odds ratio

PKA:

Protein kinase A

Ref:

Reference

SBP:

Systolic blood pressure

SD:

Standard deviation

TRPV1:

Transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1

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Acknowledgements

This research was based on the data from the 2009 wave of CHNS. The authors are indebted to all subjects who participated in the nationwide population-based study. The authors also thank the team at the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the China–Japan Friendship Hospital, Ministry of Health, for support for CHNS 2009. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Center, No. 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Tingchao He, Zixing Tian & Peiyu Wang

  2. Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University Health Science Center, No. 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, People’s Republic of China

    Meichen Wang, Jian Zhang, Yan Liu & Yumei Zhang

  3. College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, No. 17 Tsinghua East Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Yong Xue

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  1. Tingchao He
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  2. Meichen Wang
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  4. Jian Zhang
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  5. Yan Liu
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Contributions

YX and PW designed the study; YX, TH, MW, and JZ: performed the statistical analyses; TH, YX, ZT, and YL wrote the manuscripts; YX and PW: had primary responsibility for the final content; YX, TH, PW, and YZ: interpreted the data; and all authors: read and approved the final version of manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Peiyu Wang or Yong Xue.

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On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

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He, T., Wang, M., Tian, Z. et al. Sex-dependent difference in the association between frequency of spicy food consumption and risk of hypertension in Chinese adults. Eur J Nutr 58, 2449–2461 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1797-8

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