Ginger and chili peppers contain many healthful substances, including numerous antioxidants, but chili peppers have had a mixed reputation for their cancer-fighting ability.

While some studies showed that they make cancer cells commit suicide by starving them of oxygen while not harming healthy cells, other studies have linked capsaicin, the component of chili peppers that give them their heat, to skin and stomach cancer.

Ginger has been used for thousands of years to ease tummy troubles, and it is an anti-inflammatory that may help treat arthritis. Numerous lab studies have found that ginger also fights cancer, even deadly ovarian cancer, by stopping the growth of cancer cells and causing them to commit suicide.

A new study found that capsaicin combined with 6-gingergol, a pungent component of ginger, becomes a powerful anti-cancer weapon that inhibits the key cellular receptors on tumors responsible for their growth.

Chinese researchers fed mice genetically modified to develop lung cancer either capsaicin or 6-gingerol alone, or a combination of both. During the study period, all of the mice that received only capsaicin developed lung carcinomas compared to only half of the mice fed 6-gingerol.

However, an even lower percentage — only 20 percent — of the mice given both compounds developed cancer.

The new study is published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.