Do spicy foods help us to fight obesity? Chilies or hot peppers for slimming
Properties of capsaicin against obesity
There has been established an increasingly evident connection between spices and obesity . Among all the food groups and substances studied, capsinoids and derivatives (among which capsaicin is found) are one of the most studied compounds.
Capsaicin is one of the main components of hot peppers.
Why use spicy food against obesity?
Capsinoids have many advantages for obesity, mainly in these three ways:
- Decrease the appetite
- Increase energy expenditure
- Increase fat burning
Spicy food in the Mexican diet
People who adopt a Westernized diet, without the satiating and regulating power of spices and aromatic plants, have a higher risk of obesity. In addition, of course, of other factors of the obesogenic environment.
For example, it is estimated that Mexicans, for their gastronomic customs, eat an average of 250 mg of capsaicin per day, while Americans consume 0.6 mg of capsaicin per day. The difference between this dietary intake of capsaicin and obesity has been linked.
Why do spicy taste makes us thinner?
On the one hand, it has been shown that spicy taste contributes, from different signaling pathways, to increase the sensation of satiety.
At the level of metabolism, capsaicin increases thermogenesis (fat burning) and has a negative balance of calories (burns more calories than the food contributes).
For all these reasons, capsinoids increase the oxidation of fats, increase the energy expenditure of the body and increase satiety. It is estimated that, only by consuming capsaicin every day, after the years could a significant weight loss occur, between half a kilo and up to 6.5 kg. This effect, in turn, protects against fatty liver.
How to take hot pepper?
Many people do not consume these spicy foods due to lack of recipes or practical advice. In this sense, it is very interesting those studies that have observed that with the maceration of hot pepper with virgin olive oil, substances of both ingredients react, producing a powerful natural anti-inflammatory called olvanil (N-oleylvanillamine), a capsinoid derived from chili, which it is not spicy (the oil itself will be spicy, due to the presence of other capsinoids), and it is more anti-inflammatory than capsaicin from which it is derived.
Capsitate, the new supplement for weight loss
It has also been shown that capsitate a non-spicy derivative of capsaicin from chili, is interesting to be able to produce changes in the composition of body fat. In some countries, this component is already used as a dietary supplement: they call it the fat burning pill!
More information on hot peppers
