Eating spicy food on a daily basis could help protect against cancer and other illnesses, scientists say.

Experts say capsaicin, the chemical that gives spicy food its kick, could be used to kill tumours with few or no side effects for the patient.

The compound, responsible for the hot, burning taste found in chillies, could also hold the key to the next generation of anti-cancer drugs, a study has revealed.

Research by scientists at the University of Nottingham found that capsaicin can kill cells by directly targeting their energy source, indicating that people could control or prevent the onset of cancer by eating a diet rich in capsaicin.

And they believe that existing heat-based medicines, already approved for the treatment of psoriasis and muscle strain, could also be adapted to tackle more serious disease.

The research was conducted by Dr Timothy Bates, a member of the Medical Research Council (MRC) College of Experts and an internationally-renowned researcher of anti-cancer drug development.

He said: "This is incredibly exciting and may explain why people living in countries like Mexico and India, who traditionally eat a diet which is very spicy, tend to have lower incidences of many cancers that are prevalent in the western world."

Dr Bates found that the family of compounds to which capsaicin belongs - vanilloids - can kill a cancer cell by attacking its powerhouse, or mitochondria.

By binding proteins in the cell's powerhouse, the compound triggers apoptosis, or natural cell death, without harming the healthy surrounding cells.

Researchers tested the compound in a laboratory on human lung cancer cells, which Dr Bates said produced "startling results".

A similar test on pancreatic cancer - one of the most difficult forms of cancer to treat - also produced results hailed as "highly significant".

"As these compounds attack the very heart of the tumour cells, we believe that we have in effect discovered a fundamental 'Achilles heel' for all cancers," Dr Bates said.

"The investigation and development of anti-mitochondrial drugs for cancer chemotherapy by our group is unique in the UK and is likely to be extremely significant in man's fight against cancer both here and internationally."

The fact that capsaicin, and other vanilloids found in the human diet, are already known to be safe means there are fewer hurdles to get them approved for use in the fight against cancer than other drugs.

"To develop a new drug costs pharmaceutical companies in the region of 800 million (£410,000) and takes up to 10 years," Dr Bates said.

"To develop a drug for a secondary medical purpose costs far less, so compounds such as capsaicin and the others we have identified could mean big business.

"Capsaicin, for example, is already found in treatments for muscle strain and psoriasis - which raises the question of whether an adapted topical treatment could be used to treat certain types of skin cancer.

"We have already identified a number of compounds that are currently used in man for other diseases that have (secondary) anti-cancer actions.

"We are currently seeking industrial partners to enable these agents to be used in clinical trials with colleagues from Nottingham and other centres in the UK to treat a variety of cancers both in adults and, in particular, in children's cancers, where their younger cells are already primed to die by apoptosis, making them more susceptible to these agents.

"It is also possible that cancer patients or those at risk of developing cancer could be advised to eat a diet which is richer in spicy foods to help treat or prevent the disease."

The full results of the study can be found online in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

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Quote:Eating spicy food on a daily basis could help protect against cancer and other illnesses, scientists say.

This is good news for Thai's as they eat a lot of those red and green chilies, Thai food is very spicy.