CONSIDER THE SETTING
Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at Open University in the U.K., shared a similar sentiment with the Guardian, suggesting that the results might be different in an environment outside China.
“Maybe this is something in the way spices are used in Chinese cooking, or [it is] related to other things people eat or drink with the spicy food," he said. "Maybe it has something to do with the sort of people, in China, who tend to eat more spicy food. The Chinese population that they studied is different from the population in Britain, in terms of cooking practices, social relations, health care systems, genetics, and a lot else. And it’s important to realize that the study gives very little encouragement for the stereotypical English pastime of going out for several pints of beer and a hot curry."
He reiterated that those with a reduced death rate were also people who consumed little-to-no alcohol.
"The relationship between eating spicy food and a lower death rate was apparent really only in people who didn’t drink alcohol at all," he said.