Jan 12 2007 Gareth Morgan, Western Mail The study has shown that the family of compounds to which capsaicin belongs, vanilloids, can kill cancer by attacking the mitochondria of the tumour cell, commonly known as its "powerhouse". It which produces ATP, the major energy-containing chemical in the body. By binding proteins in the cancer cell mitochondria the compound triggers apoptosis, or natural cell death, without harming the healthy surrounding cells. The development 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.