Increasing your metabolism can have a positive impact on your waistline. For example, a faster metabolism can help you burn more calories, even at rest. If you do this while limiting your calorie intake, you'll have a calorie deficit and lose weight. But a metabolism boost can also affect other reactions happening in your body -- either the creation of new substances or the degradation of existing ones into energy. While many people turn to supplements for a metabolism boost, spices can also do the job with fewer side effects -- and they're probably already in your pantry.
Cayenne Pepper
Eating foods with cayenne pepper doesn't just lend a warm surge to your mouth; the spice can also heat up your metabolism. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine found that capsinoids, substances in cayenne pepper, increased metabolism and promoted the loss of belly fat in 80 adults. Cayenne pepper, also known as chili pepper, usually comes in powdered form and is used to add flavor to savory dishes.
Black Pepper
When you eat black pepper, your temperature increases. That's because of piperine, an alkaloid in the spice that increases the rate of thermogenesis in your body. Thermogenesis is the energy you expend for food digestion and, when the rate of thermogenesis rises, you burn more calories.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is useful in managing blood glucose and weight management -- important steps, not only for people with diabetes but also for those who do not want rapid fluctuations in blood sugar, which can lead to overeating. Cinnamon increases the level of insulin -- a hormone your body produces to regulate the metabolism of glucose into energy -- while reducing blood sugar. A compound in cinnamon called methylhydroxy chalcone polymer increases glucose metabolism twenty-fold, according to researchers at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. Eating cinnamon can help to ensure that carbohydrates -- which release glucose into your bloodstream -- are used for energy instead of fat storage.
Ginger
Ginger has been widely used in folk medicine as a remedy for gastrointestinal upset. However, some aspects of the root might be helpful in boosting metabolism. Ginger has been shown to act similarly to cinnamon by increasing insulin, which in turn converts blood glucose into energy. As with cinnamon, this process ensures that carbohydrates are less likely to be stored as fat.
References
- PubMed: Effects of novel capsinoid treatment on fatness and energy metabolism in humans: possible pharmacogenetic implications
- NIH: National Cancer Institute
- American Diabetes Association: Cinnamon Improves Glucose and Lipids of People With Type 2 Diabetes
- USDA.gov: Cinnamon Extracts Boost Insulin Sensitivity
- PubMed: Effect of an herbal extract Number Ten (NT) on body weight in rats.
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