The family of 110-year-old Maria Lopez credits her spicy diet with helping keep her healthy. Screenshot: WOAI-TV

July 10 (UPI) -- The daughter of a Texas woman celebrating her 110th birthday credited a diet heavy in spicy food with contributing to the woman's longevity.

Maria Lopez celebrated becoming a supercentenarian Saturday, two days before her official birthday, surrounded by family at Mya's Tex-Mex Cafe in San Antonio.


Lopez's daughter, Rosemary Galvan, said the elderly woman's spicy diet was a contributing factor in her good health.

"I think they can all vouch for her. She always has a lot of chili on her food. A lot of hot pepper. Even when I was small, I remember having hot sauce on the hamburgers and hot dogs. So I think that's what that is," Galvan told WOAI-TV.

Lopez has one daughter, four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Lopez moved to San Antonio from Mexico when she was 18-years-old. She was married to Galvan's father for more than 50 years prior to his death, and remarried at the age of 90 to a man she met at the Presa Senior Center.